In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

LBJ Auditorium
2313 Red River St.
Austin, Texas, 78705
United States

Angie Beasley

Angie Beasley is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Computer Science department at The University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches both introductory programming and machine learning. She is passionate about getting others interested in and excited about computer science and believes that in today's digital world, every undergraduate degree should include at least one computer science course. Angie enjoys demystifying complex topics like machine learning, as well as discussing both the harmful and the beneficial social impacts of the increasing use of this technology. Prior to teaching, Angie worked as a software engineer on projects for the US Navy, including submarine and surface ship sonar systems, periscope systems, and unmanned underwater vehicles. Angie received her MS in Computer Science with a concentration in machine learning from The George Washington University and her BS in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

Dana Le

Dana Le is the CEO and Founder of Wander Health, a tech-enabled concierge platform that connects travelers while abroad to local healthcare providers. She previously was on the Founding Team and Head of Operations at KidsX, one of the world’s leading digital health ecosystems focused on accelerating pediatric innovation. She built, designed, and managed the KidsX Accelerator, AWS Healthcare Accelerator, VaxUp Innovation Challenge with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Press Ganey KidsX Accelerator, and other prominent entrepreneurial programs. Prior to this role, she was building payment models at ECG Management Consultants and co-founded a community ventures program at Dell Medical School. She has a Master of Health Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin. Le was recently selected as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare.

Darrion Nguyen

Darrion Nguyen is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. Previously, Darrion worked as a research technician, where he often found himself in the lab working late into the night. Oftentimes, he’d mesh late nights into creative sessions, where he'd make relatable science and research videos under the pseudonym, “Lab Shenanigans.” As his online presence grew, so did his content. He used this as an opportunity to create humorous, modern content with more of an educational approach. With a staggering 700,000 followers across TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, Darrion is making waves as a global STEM communicator and educator. Under his Lab Shenanigans account, he has made over a hundred videos that garnered over 15 million likes. By combining popular memes and concepts from biochemistry, Darrion seeks to make science accessible, propel STEM communication, and empower people to learn science. Named the “Bill Nye of millennials,” this research technician is breaking the mold from within the lab.

Dr. Nanshu Lu

Dr. Nanshu Lu is currently the Frank and Kay Reese Professor at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). She received her B.Eng. with honors from Tsinghua University, Beijing, Ph.D. from Harvard University, and Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Her research concerns the mechanics, materials, manufacture, and human or robot integration of soft electronics. For example, she has invented wearable e-tattoos for digitizing the human body and soft e-skins for robots to gain human-like sensations. She is a Clarivate (Web of Science) highly cited researcher. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and she is on the Board of Directors of the Society of Engineering Science (SES). She is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Mechanics and Nano Letters. She is on the Editorial Board of Advanced Electronic Materials, IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics, and Sensors. She has been named 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review (TR 35) and iCANX/ACS Nano Inaugural Rising Star. She has received the NSF CAREER Award, the ONR and AFOSR Young Investigator Awards, and most recently, the ASME Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award. She has been selected as one of the five great innovators on campus and five world-changing women at UT Austin.

Gray Garmon

Gray Garmon is an Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of the Center for Integrated Design in the School of Design and Creative Technologies at The University of Texas at Austin. Garmon holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Henry Adams Medal and was a University of Pennsylvania Social Impact Fellow. Before arriving at UT in 2018, Garmon served in Peace Corps Ghana and was a faculty member and co-founder of the Master of Arts in Design and Innovation program at Southern Methodist University. Garmon practices human-centered design (HCD): a problem-solving approach widely used in industry, governments, schools, and NGOs. HCD puts people first, using qualitative research methods to understand the human contexts, behaviors, emotions, and motivations that can lead to better design solutions. His recent design work includes advising the Aga Khan Foundation on a global HCD toolkit that was honored with a Fast Company Innovation by Design Award, being a Designer-in-Residence with the Design Science Studio at the Buckminster Fuller Institute, and a National Endowment for the Arts-funded interactive art project called the WonderPhone. At UT, he teaches human-centered design courses to B.A., B.F.A., M.A., and M.F.A. students in Design, as well as design courses from across campus through the WonderPhone. At UT, he teaches human-centered design courses to B.A., B.F.A., M.A., and M.F.A. students in Design, as well as design courses from across campus through the Design Strategies “Bridging Disciplines” certificate program.

Hudson Gould

Hudson Gould is a Freshman Electrical and Computer Engineering student at UT Austin. A social entrepreneur at heart, he is always looking for new ways to solve problems that affect him and his surrounding communities. When he saw his younger sister struggling with online school at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he realized that low-income students were hit the hardest, unable to afford extracurricular tutoring. To solve this problem, he co-founded Junior Scholars, a 501c(3) nonprofit providing free tutoring to underprivileged elementary school students in the area. Two years later, Hudson grew Junior Scholars to 50+ tutors that gave out over $40,000 in free tutoring. A year after founding Junior Scholars, he founded his first for-profit business, AirTac Customs. AirTac is Hudson’s airsoft brand dedicated to innovating in the competitive airsoft market. After a year and a half of reselling, CADing, and manufacturing his own products, Hudson has generated $150,000+ in revenue since May 2021. With his experience in nonprofit and for-profit businesses, as well as a passion for robotics and the environment, Hudson is a social entrepreneur aiming to make a difference and a profit.

Iya Abdulkarim

Iya Abdulkarim is a biologist, designer, and researcher. She earned her B.A. in biology magna cum laude with departmental distinction from St. Olaf College and is a Texas Design in Health Distinguished Student Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. She is pursuing an M.A. in Design focused on Health through a collaborative program between the School of Design and Creative Technologies and Dell Medical School. As a trilingual speaker with an upbringing influenced by two cultures, her background affords her a unique understanding of some of the intricacies of linguistic and cultural contexts. As such, she is adept at building bridges and views the challenge of doing so as an invitation to her work as an interdisciplinary innovator.

Lisa Keefauver

Lisa Keefauver is a grief activist and the founder of Reimagining Grief. Lisa has more than two decades of professional experience with grief and loss - as a social worker, narrative therapist, and educator within multiple settings, including foster care/adoption, family services, crisis intervention, public housing, and cancer care. Lisa's wisdom and understanding of grief are also embodied by her personal losses, including the death of her husband. Lisa uses her knowledge and lived experiences when cultivating grief-smart cultures with individuals and organizations. She has developed grief-literate practices that reduce unnecessary suffering while increasing people's sense of belonging. Lisa's grief advocacy has inspired her to create and host the top-rated podcast, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch; serve as an adjunct professor of Loss and Grief at the University of Texas at Austin; act as an organizational consultant to facilitate grief-smart organizations; write/appear as a thought leader across media platforms and on multiple stages; and write her heavily anticipated book, Grief Is A Sneaky Bitch.

Madison Petaway

Madison Petaway is a performance poet from Houston, Texas, whose work grapples with the education system, mental illness, and the black experience. At 16, Maddie was named Houston’s 2020 Youth Poet Laureate and had her poem To Be a Black Girl published in New York Times the following year. McGraw Hill’s Digital Library “StudySync” would also publish the piece later that year. Moreover, Maddie is the founder and president of a poetry club at her university, entitled “Diction Addiction,” where she creates and teaches unique lessons weekly. Outside of school, she volunteers for two magazines as a poetry judge and teaches writing workshops to people of all ages! Alongside poetry, Maddie is a mental health advocate, volunteering as a crisis counselor with the nation’s Crisis Text Line and being an Interpersonal Violence Peer Supporter at the University of Texas-Austin. She hopes to publish a book bringing attention to mental illness in the black community and establish a school for Black, Indigenous, People of Color with literary talent.