Theme: The big impact of small ideas

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).

KC High International school
33, Olympia Panache, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Navalur
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600130
India

Adithi Ravikumar

High school learner, Budding Minds International school

An inquisitive high school student at Budding Minds International school, Adithi's interests lie in varied fields - reading, writing, art and photography. She has a poetic pursuit and listening to music has always been another go-to hobby! She also goes by the tag “lazy perfectionist”. She is a state level chess player and tends to forget the reality while playing! She loves volunteering at NGOs and doing social work. Her topic is “Future in the hands of the present”. She strongly believes that the young minds are the driving force of the present and the treasurers of the future. It’s in our hands to provide a better place for generations to come.

Dhruv Gadgil

IB Learner, KC High

Dhruv Gadgil has seamlessly woven his passion for economics, insatiable curiosity for current affairs, and appreciation for history into a rich tapestry of intellectual pursuits. An active member of the Student Council, he channels his dedication into driving positive change within the school community. Heading the Model United Nations Club at KC High school he fosters diplomacy and global understanding among peers. Dhruv has been actively involved in several community service projects like the United Nations WFUNA programme wherein he implemented Sustainable Development Goals in the neighbouring community. Drawing upon his knowledge of economics, current affairs and history Dhruv wishes to share his insights on how India can encash its demographic dividend to propel unprecedented economic growth, focusing mainly on harnessing the immense potential of rural employment. A future in which the heart of India's growth beats within its villages.

Dr. Karthik Mathivanan

Associate Director Liver and Multiorgan Transplant Programme and Surgeon, MGM Healthcare

One of the few Liver and Multivisceral Transplant Surgeons in the country, Dr Karthik Mathivanan is the Co-Director of the Liver Program at MGM Healthcare, Chennai. With more than 2000 sucessful transplants in 15 years he is the recipient of several awards for his papers from the International Liver Transplant Society (ILTS), The Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) and Indian Association of Surgical Gastroenterology (IASG), he has also published in numerous journals. In 2020, he founded Liver India and raised awareness about liver health across Tamil Nadu especially in rural areas. Liver India has assisted over 10000 people in undergoing screening tests for Hepatitis B and in mobilizing funds through the State Health Insurance scheme or crowdsourcing. Dr.Karthik is focused on working towards curing advanced liver cancer by coupling transplant oncology and immunotherapy. He believes if medical science can help a person with no hope prolong life even by a day, it is a success story.

Madhav Anand Menon

IB Learner, KC High

Madhav Menon is an aspiring Physics and Mathematics major who loves to share his passion and curiosity with others. Having co-founded his school’s STEM Club, he strives to dispel the fear people hold about STEM subjects and hopes to show how they can be leveraged in order to propel our understanding of the universe. In his free time, he can be found expanding his knowledge by learning new things, passionately debating in MUN conferences, or spending time with friends and family. He also maintains his own Physics blog hosted on Medium. Madhav believes that with advancements in technology, we often need to use the tools that our ancestors had in order to understand our creations better. One such tool that never fails is Mathematics. In his talk, Madhav will unravel the significance of the Pigeonhole Principle and highlight how a seemingly simple and intuitive idea can have trivial and profound applications that help us understand the ever-changing world around us.

Michael Purcell

Head of School, KC High

Michael Purcell is the Head of School at KC High. He received his Bachelor’s degrees in Engineering Physics from West Virginia Wesleyan University and his Master’s degree in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a mathematics teacher for more than 25 years but he has also taught physics, history, theory of knowledge, computer science, and technical writing. He is an innovator who is certified by the International Baccalaureate (IB) in Physics, Mathematics, History, Pedagogical Leadership, and Governance. He is also an IB Consultant, a Workshop Leader and a School Visit Team Leader. He has presented at expert conferences on a range of topics, including educational technology, social media, academic honesty and health and safety in schools. Prior to working at KC High, Mick was the founder Head of School at Edubridge International School in Mumbai, and before that he worked at NIST in Thailand and the Mahindra United World College in Pune.

Pralayan Shanmugasundaram

Theatre artist, director

Pralayan, one of the pioneering theatre personalities who are spearheading the modern theatre movement with the major emphasis towards the open-air theatre performances in Tamil Nadu. As the founder and convener of Chennai Kalai Kuzhu, he has been active in the Tamil Nadu theatre scene from 1984. He has written, facilitated and directed more than 50 open-air plays and 23 proscenium plays. He did a phenomenal work of breaking the boundaries of rural and urban theatre and develop a new idiom of play writing by incorporating the poetic symbolism of our rural traditional theatre with the modern sensibilities. He has written and published many books and plays which takes a unique take on social issues.

Samyuktha Shankar

IB Learner, KC High

India is a developing country with numerous daunting problems to tackle. While many want to contribute, conventional volunteering demands more time and resource commitment. Are there other ways to effect meaningful change, given our constraints? In this talk, Samyuktha will explore the simple yet powerful concept of micro-volunteerism to contribute in small yet significant ways to the causes that we care about. Samyuktha Shankar is a high schooler who cares deeply about contributing to the betterment of society and creating a positive impact. She has been actively volunteering, focusing on animal welfare, and tutoring economically-disadvantaged children.

Thirupurasundari Sevvel

Architect, Planner, Author and Story teller

Ms. Sundari’s passion and work are multifold. She weaves stories on personal and social history, heritage and environment, to create an inclusive space for all. Part of the team that launched Nam Veedu- Nam Oorn- Nam Kadhai in 2014, she helps people come together for common social causes and in being the voice for the voiceless. She is an expert conservationist and restorer, documenting traditional techniques and practices of design with several consultancy projects undertaken for NGOs, schools and colleges in planning and developing inclusive, accessible and safe architecture. She celebrates Madras in whatever way she can from station hopping to making iconic rubber stamps. She is also the author of the children’s book “Malar’s big house”.

Vedika Agarwal

Founder and CEO Yein Udaan

Vedika Agarwal has a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from the World #1 UCL Institute of Education, UK. She founded Yein Udaan to provide diverse learning opportunities to children, youth and women. During the pandemic, Vedika's team partnered with the Greater Chennai Police to distribute essential supplies to nearly one lakh marginalised people. Vedika's work has been covered in several national and international news articles including CNN, Thomson Reuters, Femina, and the Hindu. She has been recognised as 1 of 20 global Covid-19 Heroes by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Her efforts have also gained her recognition as Rotary Educator of the Year, Chennai Young Changemaker of the Year, and 1 of 100 selected Indians as Dettol Protectors.

Yuktav Srinivas

IB Learner, KC High

Yuktav is currently a senior at KC High international school. In the future, he aspires to become an engineer due to his inclination towards topics like futurism and the potential to make a positive impact on the world through science. Lately, he has developed an interest in AI technology, specifically generative machine learning models in image processing and coding. Outside of academics, he is a semi-competitive single-scull rower at the Madras Boat Club and enjoys making short films with his friends. Last year he was part of a non-profit company that he started with some of his close friends called “Baking-Bad”, and through this project, they was able to apply his interest in filmmaking and AI generative models for a charitable purpose.