Theme: Interdisciplinary Connections in a Diversifying World

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).

5500 Wabash Avenue
Terre Haute, Indiana
United States

Carlotta Berry

Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering

Dr. Carlotta A. Berry is the Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research interests are in human-robot interaction and strategies to increase the number of marginalized and minoritized populations pursuing and earning degrees in science and engineering. In 2020, she launched NoireSTEMinist, an educational consultancy and co-founded Black in Engineering and Black in Robotics. Berry’s innovative strategies to normalize seeing Black women in STEM include performing robot hip hop slam poetry, writing Black STEM Romance novels, creating open-source robots, conducting robotics workshops, and using social media to educate the world about engineering and robotics. These efforts have garnered such honors as American Society of Engineering Education Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Senior Member, Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, and Grace Hopper Celebration ABIE Award.

Irene Reizman

Associate Professor of Chemical Engineeering

Dr. Irene Reizman is the Alfred R. Schmidt Endowed Chair for Excellence in Teaching. In addition to teaching and developing engineering courses, Reizman has mentored more than 40 undergraduate researchers through individual projects and the Rose-Hulman International Genetically Engineered Machine competition team. She is currently director of the Rose Research Fellows program and part of a multi-institution project funded by the Kern Family Foundation to enhance the integration of entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate research. Her research encompasses both a technical program, focused on undergraduate projects in synthetic biology, and an engineering education component, examining the impacts of undergraduate research experiences on student mindset and educational outcomes.

Jennifer Mueller

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Jennifer Muller's areas of interest include water quality, sustainable design, watershed hydrology, and river hydraulics. Current projects involve pedagogical studies for incorporating sustainability and ethical decision making in undergraduate engineering education, with an emphasis on touchpoints throughout the four-year curriculum. Mueller especially loves mentoring students through capstone senior design projects, where she emphasizes the need for sustainable design through all phases of the design process. She is also the faculty adviser for the Engineers for a Sustainable World student organization. Mueller is a registered professional engineer in Indiana and an Envision Sustainability Professional. She has served as a mentor for the Engineering for One Planet Mini-Grant Program and previously served as chair of the River Restoration Technical Committee for the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute.

Lucy Muthoni

Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence

Dr. Lucy Muthoni is a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from Kenya. Muthoni is spending this academic year working in Rose-Hulman’s Department of Mathematics on course design, research, teaching, and community engagement. She has taught and used mathematics to solve a myriad of multi-sectoral problems in and outside Kenya for more than 15 years. In Kenya, she works as a senior lecturer of mathematics and actuarial science at the Strathmore Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Muthoni also is the national patroness of the Actuarial Students Society of Kenya and vice chairperson of the Kenyan Mathematicians Society. She has a Ph.D. in Mathematics, specializing in mathematical finance, with a strong background in actuarial science and risk management.

Nicole Pfiester

Assistant Professor in Physics and Optical Engineering

Dr. Nicole A. Pfiester is an interdisciplinary scientist, with degrees in physics, electrical engineering, and materials science engineering. She has published work on thermophotovoltaics, infrared photodetectors, and optical properties of materials. Her present research interests include creating nanostructured materials with properties not seen in nature to improve the performance of cameras and sensors. Pfiester has received several awards for her work, including selection as a 2020 SPIE International Optics/Photonics Society’s Defense and Commercial Sensing Rising Researcher and a 2020 Mistletoe Research Fellow. She is also passionate about helping undergraduate students pursue their scientific ideas, often delving into nanotechnology production and applications and helping all students, regardless of major field of study, see themselves as scientists.

Soulaf Abas

Associate Professor of Art

Soully Abas was born and raised in Damascus, Syria. She is equally passionate about making art and teaching it. She believes in art's ability to transform the world around us and to find the light within. Her work navigates the internal and external worlds. In her painting and printmaking, Abas depicts the effects of loss and grief, and she explores the beauty found in these experiences and the environments around her. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has received numerous residencies and awards for her work from the Social Justice Residency in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the International Painting Symposium in Luxor, Egypt, along with multiple experiential learning and community engagement grants from Indiana State University.