Theme: Connections

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).

Jim Wise Theatre
Newark, New Jersey
United States

Carlos Dominguez

Carlos Dominguez is a Senior Vice President at Cisco Systems and a technology evangelist, speaking to and motivating audiences worldwide about how technology is changing how we communicate, collaborate, and especially how we work. Carlos gives humorous, highly-animated presentations full of deep insight into how technology, and the right culture, can create winning companies. Drawing from his 20 years at Cisco, he talks about how technology is changing the rules of business and how to not get left behind. Carlos addresses many questions about collaboration including what motivates people to collaborate, how to establish rewards for collaborating, how to find the right experts both inside and outside your company, and how to keep people coming together — online and in person. Carlos is a member of the prestigious CDC Foundation which connects the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to innovative ideas and expertise from outside partners. He is also a board member at the Institute of Large Scale Innovation (ILSI) which is a group of international leaders who use innovation to help solve complex global challenges. Before his current role, Carlos ran Worldwide Service Provider Operations for three years, and previously was Vice President for U.S. Service Provider Sales. Under his leadership, Service Provider grew from $500 million to $2.5 billion. Prior to that, he led Cisco’s Enterprise line of business in the northeastern U.S. where he established Cisco in strategic markets such as financial services, media, government and pharmaceuticals. He lives in New Jersey and prior to Cisco, held management positions at Timeplex, Inc. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, and at New Jersey Bell/Bell Atlanticom.

Bernadette Longo

Longo is an associate professor in the Department of Humanities at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She earned a PhD in rhetoric and communication at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She also has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in English from California State University. Longo joins NJIT from the University of Minnesota, where she taught technical and professional communication and directed the master’s and certificate programs in scientific and technical communication. In her doctoral work at Rensselaer, Longo was among the first technical communication researchers to complete an extended cultural study, investigating how technical communication acts as a control mechanism for assigning value to scientific information. She explored this approach even earlier in her career in Spurious Coin, her first book. Longo uses cultural studies to investigate technical communication practices within particular cultural contexts, mediated by technological devices. She understands technical communication as an everyday practice working to stabilize a power/knowledge system. This research accounts for technical communicators' language choices, illuminating how technical language circulates as currency, assigning value to information within a scientific knowledge economy. Longo’s research has taken her well beyond the campus. From 2005 to 2010, she worked with an intensive care unit (ICU) medical director at the University of Minnesota Medical Center to study how insulin protocols disseminate research findings into clinical practices. The study's purpose was to develop a prototype protocol to share with other hospitals, based on design elements that were identified and tested. Longo has also explored information design issues with First Step Initiative, a microfinance NGO working with women entrepreneurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). She worked with University of Minnesota graduate students and partners in DR Congo to address communication and design problems as opportunities to apply their expertise within a specific cultural context. The situation required Longo and her students to research and learn about relationships between people and technologies that were unfamiliar to them. In January 2010, she visited Lubumbashi to meet people with whom she had been collaborating virtually for two years. As a result of that trip, she and her students began working with another NGO and two University of Minnesota engineering professors to develop a mobile phone messaging system for small farmers and artisanal miners in Katanga Province. This project was the topic of Longo’s graduate-level information design courses from 2008-2010.

Randal Pinkett

Dr. Randal Pinkett has established himself as an entrepreneur, speaker, author and scholar, and as a leading voice for his generation in business and technology. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of his fifth venture, BCT Partners, a multimillion-dollar management consulting and information technology solutions firm headquartered in Newark, NJ, Dr. Pinkett has received numerous awards for business and technology excellence including the Information Technology Senior Management Forum’s Beacon Award, the National Society of Black Engineers’ Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the National Urban League’s Business Excellence Award. He has been featured on nationally televised programs such as The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Nightline and Larry King Live, and he has been recognized by USA TODAY newspaper as one of the top 20 scholars in the country. In 2009, he was named to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s official shortlist as a potential running mate for Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Dr. Pinkett has served as a brand ambassador for AMTRAK, Verizon Communications, and Outback Steakhouse, and as a national spokesperson for Autism Speaks, the National Black MBA Association, the MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series, New Jersey Reads, Junior Achievement of New York, and the Minority Information Technology Consortium. Most notably, Dr. Pinkett was the first and only African-American to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University. He was also the winner of NBC’s hit reality television show, The Apprentice, with Donald Trump. He was selected as one of 18 candidates chosen from among 1 million applicants to compete for the opportunity to run one of Donald Trump’s companies. Dr. Pinkett is a highly sought-after speaker for various corporations, colleges and universities, government agencies and community organizations. He is the author of Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business and No-Money Down CEO: How to Start Your Dream Business with Little or No Cash. His latest book, Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find Greatness, presents the strategies African Americans and other emerging majorities use to successfully navigate today’s rapidly changing professional landscape. Black Faces in White Places was named one of the “10 Best Books of 2010.” Based on the book’s “10 Game-Changing Strategies,” Dr. Pinkett has launched the “Campaign to Redefine the Game,” which represents a call to action for Americans to level the playing field in the 21st century workplace. Dr. Pinkett is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA), the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), and the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF), as well as a member of the board of directors for the New Jersey Public Policy Research Institute (NJPPRI), the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network (NTEN) and the National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP). He is also a proud graduate of Leadership New Jersey and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership program. Dr. Pinkett holds five academic degrees including: a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University, where he competed as a high jumper, long jumper, and captain of the men’s track and field team; a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Oxford in England; and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, MBA, and Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Dr. Pinkett attends First Baptist Church in Somerset, NJ, where he resides. He is happily married to his wife, Zahara, and they are both proud parents of their daughter and two sons. Dr. Pinkett firmly believes that “to whom much is given, much is expected,” so throughout his endeavors he places great emphasis on his desire to give back to the community.

Donald Sebastian

Sebastian is responsible for the academic research enterprise as well as for developing partnerships with industry, for managing governmental affairs, intellectual property management, commercialization and contract projects across the technology spectrum. Under his leadership, the university sponsored research has grown to over $100M. He has created a number of statewide entities including the NJ Healthcare Information Technology Extension Center, NJ Homeland Security Technology Systems Center, NJ Nanotechnology Consortium and the NJ Manufacturing Extension Program. Prior to joining NJIT in 1995, Professor Sebastian was a member of the Chemical Engineering faculty at Stevens Institute of Technology where he also graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1974, followed by Masters of Engineering in 1975, and the Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1977.

Michael Smith

Michael Smith is Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Forbes Media and President of Forbes.com. In this role Mr. Smith oversees all Forbes IT departments, which include IT Systems, Multi-Platform Development and Digital Strategy. He is also responsible for the Forbes Media Exchange (FMX) which provides the reach and efficiency of a demand platform, plus the value of the Forbes Brand. He is also responsible for audience sales via auctions including trading desks, advertising operations, data & analytics, and yield management. Prior to joining Forbes.com as Chief Technology Officer, he was Vice President and Chief Information Officer at TheStreet.com, where he directed their technology efforts, including application development, network engineering, Website operations, global technology initiatives and business support systems. Prior to that, he held several positions at HBO, including Director of Information Technology. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and holds a network-technology related patent. He is publishing his first book entitled “Matchpoint” in 2011, which will detail the online display advertising market on ad exchanges and real time bidding auction technologies. For the past ten years, Mike has been a member of the board of visitors of The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Albert Dorman Honors College and also The Education Law Center for the past five years. He is on the board of directors of the Online Publisher’s Association as well as a member of the Union League Club in New York. To address the vital need for student activism, and tackle some of the issues of education and ecological intelligence, Anthony and other NJIT students and faculty created the New Earth Archive. The Archive is both a student organization at NJIT and an online network of powerful books, films, and social media that provides a vital understanding for the problems our society faces, and inspires students to become leaders and innovators able to solve them.

Guy Story

As CTO & Chief Scientist, Guy drives technology innovation at Audible.com. Guy joined Audible in 1996 as VP Technology and led the architecture and development of Audible¹s innovative mobile audio and Internet commerce technologies. Prior to joining Audible, Guy worked in research and development for over 10 years at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies, where his areas of focus included networked delivery of multimedia documents and interactive television. Today at Audible Guy is focused on opportunities in wireless, automotive, in-home entertainment, content discovery, and social media.

Kathleen Uske

Born and raised in Staten Island, New York, Kathleen Uske is a junior Biomedical Engineering student specializing in the Biomaterials/Tissue Engineering track. She is also an Albert Dorman Honors College scholar. She is a member of the Albert Dorman Honors College’s Ambassador Program in which she meets prospective students at various events, including NJIT open houses. She also served to help new freshman make the transition into college as a Teaching Assistant for the Honors Freshman Seminar course last fall. Kathleen is the acting Vice President of Public Relations and the Vice President of PR/Membership of Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, respectively. Additionally, she is a member of the Honors Biomedical Engineering Society. The Honors College’s Interdisciplinary Design Studio program, a student research program which focuses on transforming innovation to entrepreneurship, has played a large role in providing the practical knowledge and experience that will be imperative in the years following graduation. Kathleen is the leader of the SmartGuardian research team. This project, under the advisement of Dr. Atam Dhawan, focuses on the creation of smart bathroom environments for the purpose of monitoring both physiological and behavioral signals of elderly individuals. The impact of the project focuses on addressing the needs of a growing U.S. elderly population and the need for electronic healthcare systems, alike. Kathleen has represented SmartGuardian as a participant in the Capital One sponsored Innovation Accelerator Program. She presented at the NJIT Undergraduate Research Symposium and has been chosen as a finalist for a research grant from Kendal Charitable Funds. The project concept is also to be featured this fall at TEDxNJIT and the IEEE Healthcare Innovation Conference: Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Lyneir Richardson

Lyneir Richardson is the Chief Executive Officer of Brick City Development Corporation, the City of Newark’s economic development corporation, with overall responsibility for small and minority business development, business attraction and real estate development. Mr. Richardson has nearly 20 years of experience as an attorney, entrepreneur and corporate executive. Before becoming the CEO of BCDC, Mr. Richardson was Vice President of Urban Development at General Growth Properties, Inc. At General Growth, he led the national initiative to bring quality shopping centers to ethnic neighborhoods in large U.S. cities. Prior to General Growth, Richardson founded Lakeshore Development & Construction Company, which developed, built and sold new affordable and market rate housing in metro Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Richardson also worked as an attorney at the First National Bank of Chicago, negotiating and drafting documents for real estate and commercial lending transactions. Mr. Richardson is a graduate of Bradley University and the University of Chicago Law School. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and has served on numerous non-profit and civic boards and commissions.