Whatever opinion you might have about TED (Technology Engineering Design) Conferences, it would be impossible to say that you don’t walk out of a conference feeling like you’ve absorbed a semester’s worth of information.
Each year TEDxUofM puts on an independent conference at the Power Center, and this year’s theme was Constructive Interference. The format is always the same: the doors open and people stream in to get their creative name tags, activities and coffee charge everyone for the day ahead, speakers ranging from activists to cartoonists.
I am always surprised by how big the event is. Weeks after ticket sales open, there are no spots left. This showed at the Power Center, where students, faculty, and outsiders filled every seat and streamed into the walkway outside. That’s the beauty of going to the conference rather than streaming it online–during the conference it was ridiculously easy to bump into someone and learn about their lives. Furthermore, TED attracts a certain type of curious personality that makes it easy to talk about issues other than the weather during lunch.
As for the speakers themselves, I was pleased that I didn’t see any bad speakers. Sometimes it happens. Not at U of M.
Some of the highlights were Herbert Winful, who talked abotu how hidden passions can connect people. As he states “It was love at first sight when I first laid eyes on Maxwell’s Equations.” This man studied electrical engineering at MIT, so he was not lying. Jill Halpern, another graduate of MIT, also spoke about tying together math and creativity.
Probably my favorite event of the day, however, was Raj Mehta’s talk called “Addiction 101.” It was simple, yet challenged the way in which we view addicts and stereotypes. Furthermore, he stated some unsettling facts about the apathy of our system. One example was that there are 40 institutions for juvenile detention in Michigan, but only 1 for rehabilitation. Even more astounding, this man was a former heroin addict, yet recovered and managed to graduate Michigan with a 4.0 GPA. That’s more than I’ll be able to pull off by the time I graduate.
The picture above is another one of the highlights of the conference. Two Michigan students, Marisa Diamond and Charley Leonard, showcased incredible acrobatic talent on stage. They flipped, flew, and astounded us. I felt guilty for not doing anything better with my life as a student.
While several of the speakers were famous and big-shots in their industries, TEDxUofM is wonderful because it also brings in alumni and faculty alike to speak to current students and faculty. Cliff Lampe, for instance, teaches at the School of Information, and what is incredible is that if you liked his talk today you could easily have him as a professor next semester!
If you get a chance, follow TED, TEDxUofM, and attend next year’s conference. It will be worth it.
