Speakers Ready to Inspire at TEDxAuckland

Thursday, 16 August 2012, 10:05 am
Press Release: TEDxAuckland

MEDIA RELEASE

EMBARGOED TO 9:00AM
THURSDAY 16 AUGUST Wednesday, 15 August 2012 Auckland, New Zealand

Speakers Ready to Inspire at TEDxAuckland

TEDxAuckland is bringing together several of New Zealand’s most interesting minds for a full day of stimulating talks, discussions and learning this October.

Now less than two months away, TEDxAuckland will expose attendees to thought-provoking, world-changing ideas from New Zealand’s top scientists, artists, educators and technologists.

Event organiser Elliott Blade hopes this year’s event will be the beginning of an inspiring relationship between New Zealanders and the TEDx platform.

“It will be a great day of dynamite presentations from eighteen of New Zealand’s brightest. The event will present a diverse mix of speakers - both familiar names and emerging talent – that we hope will ignite some great conversation and encourage people to discover new ideas.”

Speakers in this year’s line-up include physicist, decathlete and political advisor Sean Gourley; change development specialist Paul Wood; physicist and pursuer of the Higgs boson ‘god particle’ David Krofcheck; materials and biomedical engineer Michelle Dickinson; internationally recognised architect Andrew Patterson; director of surgical research at Auckland Hospital and co-founder of medical start-up SIMTICs John Windsor; art director of Apropos and founder of the 100 Days Project Emma Rogan; CEO of Arvus Group Matthew Simmons; and dental surgeon and founder of ICARE Assil Russell.

TEDxAuckland will take place on Saturday 6 October at the ASB Theatre in the Aotea Centre. Eighteen speakers are set to take part in the full day event which will run from 10.00am until 5.30pm. A complete speaker line up will be announced in early September.

TEDxAuckland is proudly sponsored by Yellow®, Kordia, New Zealand Post, Sony, Powershop, Scoop Media Cartel, Digital Arts Network, Flitter and Deafradio.

Tickets are now available for purchase from The Edge for $70 + booking fees.
http://www.the-edge.co.nz/buy-tickets.aspx

For more information about this year’s speakers and all other updates visit http://www.tedxauckland.com/

Facebook: Facebook.com/tedxakl
Twitter: Twitter.com/TEDxAkl

Event Information:
Date: Saturday, 6 October 2012
Venue: ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre
Time: 10am - 5:30pm

Ends

Speaker bios below

About TEDx,
x = independently organized event

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.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter or on Facebook.

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First Nine Speakers

Andrew Patterson
Andrew Patterson is the Design Director at Patterson Associates Ltd. and arguably New Zealand’s most internationally recognized and published architect. He is the designer of New Zealand’s only new build 6 Green Star rated project– Geyser, in Auckland, and his firm was named by World Architecture News as one of five architects worldwide “whose directional ideas are helping to shape the future of architecture”.

Assil Russell
Assil Russell is a dental surgeon and founder of ICARE, New Zealand's first and only registered medical and dental charity for Iraqi orphans and disadvantaged children. Born in Iraq and raised in New Zealand, Assil is a graduate of Otago University and founded ICARE at the age of 21 to empower people from all walks of life to make a difference in the lives of others.

Dr David Krofcheck
David Krofcheck is one of New Zealand’s leading physics researchers, with a particular focus on experimental high energy nuclear physics and environmental radiation. A senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, David is involved in a number of significant international experiments - including the search for the Higgs boson or ‘god’ particle.

Emma Rogan
Emma Rogan is a partner at Auckland design company Apropos and founder of New Zealand’s 100 Days Project. Her work has been awarded and recognised by the NZ Best Awards, Communication Arts, The Webby Awards and Adobe.

John Windsor
Professor John Windsor is a surgeon who holds a personal chair in surgery at the University of Auckland. He is also the co-founder and a director of the start-up SIMTICS Ltd that has developed the ‘Integrated Cognitive Simulator’ for procedural and surgical skills training. Over the last 5 years John has published 80 manuscripts, raised $6m in grants and given over 100 invited talks to audiences in places such as Harvard, Oxford, Capetown, Delhi, Karolinska and Singapore,

Matthew Simmons
Matthew Simmons is the CEO of Arvus Group International and currently part of the NZ Clean Energy Centre’s Enterprise Great Lake Taupo (EGLT) team. Matthew’s company, Arvus, is an external source of R&D and innovation worldwide, and has been involved in successful innovations in the fields of Digital Cinema, Loudspeaker design, Acoustics, Optics and Viticulture.

Dr. Michelle Dickinson
Michelle is a specialist in nanotechnology and head of New Zealand’s only Nanomechanical Testing Laboratory. A senior lecturer in Biomedical Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland, Michelle’s in-depth knowledge of nanotechnology has helped develop cutting edge technologies for both the high-tech and medical industries.

Dr Paul Wood
Paul Wood is a change specialist and founder of Switch Coaching & Consulting. He specializes in industrial, organisational and workplace psychology and acquired his academic degrees in Psychology and Philosophy while in prison serving a sentence for manslaughter. Through his knowledge and personal experience, Paul assists individuals and organisations achieve sustainable change.

Dr. Sean Gourley
Sean Gourley is the co-founder and CTO of Quid, which is building a global intelligence platform. He is a physicist and political advisor, and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar where he received a PhD for his research on mathematical patterns that underlie modern war. Sean has since acted as a political advisor to the Iraqi government, the United Nations and the US Pentagon. Originally from New Zealand, he is now based in San Francisco.

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TEDxAuckland

Ideas Worth Spreading

Our mission at TEDxAuckland is to celebrate new ideas, innovation and diversity with a global audience, aiming to inspire individuals and communities to create a positive impact.

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