TEDxHeriotWattUniversity 2015

On September 30, 2015, Heriot-Watt University hosted its first ever live TEDx event. With "Think Aloud" as the theme for TEDxHeriotWattUniversity 2015, the idea was to inspire people to shout out their ideas to the world. To share it, critique it. To open up to inputs from others. To acquire different perspectives, learn and grow. To Think Aloud.

We had a diverse line-up of speakers from the fields of science to global issues to cultural heritage to those questioning existing norms. These speakers truly made everyone "Think Aloud" at the end of their talks.

.Prof. Daniele Faccio

Daniele Faccio is a professor at Heriot-Watt University. He has worked for a number of years in the optical telecommunications industry (Pirelli Labs and Corning 2001-2004) and has worked as a visiting scientist/professor at a number of Universities over the past years (MIT, Boston – 2003, FORTH Laser Institute, Crete -2008, 2010) and was Adjunct Professor at the University of Insubria, Como, Italy from 2004 to 2010. He joined Heriot-Watt University in November 2010 and is currently leading the Extreme Light group.

Setting off on a quest to understanding light, Prof. Daniele Faccio's research revolves around using light to mimic black hole physics, the interplay between space and time, as well as the study of new technologies that capture images of light in flight. Recently, he's been working on a new generation of cameras that is set to change the way in which we see the world; they see the weakest streams of light, and capture images at such high speed that they can freeze light in motion.

Claire Balfour

Claire is an Adult Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) specialising in neuropathic communication disorders in traumatic brain injury, a healthcare educator and trainer in adult neurological disorders, a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) coaching confidence within communication and has a background in stage work doing improvised comedy theatre.

Within modern society, technology has enabled people to become verbally promiscuous yet leave them emotionally impotent. Claire Balfour shares her journey with us: teaching people to think aloud as an Adult Speech and Language Therapist (SLT), but ultimately coaching people to feel aloud as a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner. Her motto: change your language = change your feelings = change your life - aims to redefine life stories and build new narratives.

Dr. Paul Chapman

Dr. Paul Chapman is Acting Director of the Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio (DDS) where he has worked since 2009. Previously Paul was Director of the Hull Immersive Visualisation Centre and spent several years working as an offshore engineer in the oil, gas and diamond mining industries. Paul holds BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Science, he is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered IT Professional and a Fellow of the British Computer Society. Passionate about technology, Paul applies his experience to real-world problems in numerous disciplines including experimental psychology, archaeology, marine visualisation, speech rehabilitation, flying simulation and medical visualisation. He has several years of managerial and project management experience and has won numerous awards including the 2009 UK Industry Awards: IT Innovative Project of the Year.

He takes us on a journey of how immersive systems, virtual reality, and computer graphics have progressed over the years. Recently, he's been working on a ground-breaking international 3D scanning project that is set out to digitally document Scotland's five World Heritage Sites and five other international sites.

Charlie Parker

Charlie is the Founder and Managing Director of a creative video agency, Broken Blonde. After establishing the company in Edinburgh it has quickly gained a reputation not only for it’s quality but as well as it’s charisma. Charlie’s credits include co-writing “M.U.F.F” (starring Daniel Sloss and Tom Stade) which is to be released end of 2015, “Tough Times Make Monkeys Eat Red Peppers” the Documentary (which has been reviewed by Scottish Author and Film-maker, Irvine Welsh).

This film producer chose to pursue his one true-calling, even when all odds were against him. Charlie Parker may have not taken the conventional route, but he has certainly never let that cap his ambition. Time and again, he has been the most honest version of himself and has chosen to listen to his inner voice as a narrative to his journey.
 

Prof. Máiréad Nic Craith

Máiréad Nic Craith is Professor of Cultural Heritage at Heriot-Watt University. Her research focuses on different aspects of heritage including literary heritage, multicultural heritage, World Heritage sites, heritage and conflict and heritage and law in a European context. Máiréad has recently co-edited the Blackwell Companion to Heritage.

Being an expert on all things to do with heritage, Máiréad was invited by the United Nations in 2011 to advise on access to heritage as a human right. The preservation of intangible heritage is something she is deeply passionate about, and she continues to build on to this awareness and its importance in her work.

Prof. Philip Wookey

Phil is Professor of Ecosystem Science at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He holds a Combined Honours degree from the University of Exeter (1984) and a PhD in air pollution effects research from Lancaster University and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (1988). His passion for "The North" and unwavering love of cold, snowy and windswept places has inevitably led him to the Arctic, where he continues to research its amplification on global warming.

As a region, the Arctic is warming faster than any other part of the planet; it is both a sentinel of global change and a key component of the climate system. In this talk Phil will highlight the powerful linkages between the biosphere and the cryosphere (the frozen world) in the Arctic, and how this matters to us all.