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).

Orpheum Graz
Orpheumgasse 8
Graz, Steiermark, 8020
Austria

DRUMATICAL THEATRE

A breathtaking powerful show featuring percussion, modern and classical dance and classical vocals. In an exciting crossover drumming choreography artists move in perfect tune with the language of rhythm and light!

ANDREA VATTOVANI

Andrea Vattovani is an award winning Italian architect who strives to communicate his positive attitude and ideas through his innovative concepts and projects. He’s a frequent lecturer across European universities and has been appointed several times to teach Design at the TU Graz. His design is always a result of meticulous research of the location, culture and people surrounding the project. This results in site specific solution which fits the given conditions perfectly.

ANNA MARIA COCLITE

Curiosity: it’s Anna’s driving force to pursue new ideas and ambitious projects. Each analysis unfolds one aspect of the story and her passion is putting them altogether to obtain the big picture. She is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Solid State Physics of the Graz University of Technology and landed here after a postdoc of 3 years at the MIT, Boston, in the Chemical Engineering Department and after getting her PhD title at the University of Bari, Italy, in Chemistry.

BENEDIKT AHLFELD

Decision-making runs like a golden thread through Benedikt Ahlfeld’s life – decisions that meet his standards hold-no-barred. At the age of 13 you would have found him sitting on the rooftops meditating. Aged 16, with little more than 2 months work experience, he decided for himself to become an entrepreneur. Today, Benedikt enables people and companies to live and work smart by sharing his expertise on the psychology of decision-making.

CHRISTIAN HOLTER

Christian Holter is expert in environmental R&D, projects and education. He focuses on Solar Heating and Cooling and developing potentials from first ideas to real life usage, relevance and success.

CHRISTOPH JENTZSCH

Christoph Jentzsch works on exploring the most basic fundamentals in different systems. After studying theoretical physics in Dresden he worked on the protocol and as the lead tester for the non-profit organization Ethereum. Building a blockchain which enables smart contracts as the fundamentals for a new decentralized economy. Using this technology he authored "The DAO", a decentralized autonomous organisation which runs entirely on the blockchain. He also founded the company Slock.it working on the decentralized sharing economy.

CLAUDIA KÖRBLER

An Austrian-born global citizen, Claudia pursues her passion working in international development at the United Nations and previously the World Bank Group and Embassy of Austria in Washington, D.C. She has refined her skills in cross-cultural communication and comprehends the joy, challenges, and difficulties of living and working in different cultures. In her work, she focuses on the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, elimination of poverty, inequality and the driving forces of economic and social progress.

ELISABETH HÖDL

Elisabeth Hödl ist Juristin, Spezialistin für Zukunftsfragen in der digitalen Gesellschaft und Autorin literarischer Texte. Das Recht erlaubt es ihr, auf das Vergangene zu sehen, die Futurologie bietet den Blick nach vorne und die Poesie eröffnet die Wege für Achtsamkeit und Mindfulness. Von ihrer Großmutter aber hat sie gelernt, dass neben dem Streben nach Erfolg die seelische Eleganz im Umgang mit anderen Menschen das Wichtigste ist.

GERALD KNAUS

Gerald Knaus is ESI's founding chairman and a Mercator senior fellow in Istanbul. He studied in Oxford, Brussels, and Bologna, taught economics at university in Ukraine in 1993/94 and spent five years working for international organizations in Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2001 to 2004 he was director of the Lessons Learned Unit of the EU Pillar of the UN Mission in Kosovo. In 2011, he co-authored the book "Can Intervention Work?" He is a founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and was for five years an Associate Fellow at the Carr Center at Harvard University's Kennedy School. He writes his blog on www.rumeliobserver.eu.

JOST BERNASCH

Jost Bernasch ist seit 2004 Geschäftsführer des Kompetenzzentrums „Das virtuelle Fahrzeug“ in Graz. Die zentralen Forschungsschwerpunkte sind intelligente, sichere und umweltfreundliche Fahrzeuge. Er promovierte an der Universität München und Dortmund zum Thema Echtzeitbildverarbeitung zur Fahrzeugumfelderfassung (Fahrerassistenzsysteme) und war anschließend als Projektmanager und Leiter der Fahrsimulation bei BMW München tätig. Heute ist er unter anderem Mitglied im Steering Committee der International Driving Simulation Conference (DSC), Gründer und Vorsitzender des Grazer Symposiums Virtuelles Fahrzeug (GSVF) und Vorsitzender des International Styrian Noise, Vibration & Harshness Kongress (ISNVH) in Zusammenarbeit mit der SAE.

KAY RÖMER

Kay Römer besitzt nach wie vor privat kein Smartphone, obwohl oder vielleicht gerade weil er sich schon seit mehr als 15 Jahren beruflich mit Minicomputern beschäftigt die in Alltagsgegenstände eingebettet und drahtlos miteinander vernetzt werden. Dass dieses Thema nicht nur in Graz relevant ist, zeigen seine beruflichen Stationen die ihn von der Uni Frankfurt über die ETH Zürich an die Uni Lübeck und schließlich 2013 an die TU Graz geführt haben.

MANUEL BRUSCHI

Manuel Bruschi is one of the founders and CEO of Timeular, where they create solutions which help people to value their time more.

MICHAELA ERNST

Michaela Ernst arbeitet seit mehr als 30 Jahren im Journalismus. Unter anderem war sie als Kolumnistin und Medienredakteurin bei der Tageszeitung Kurier tätig, baute als Chefredakteurin die Wien/NÖ/Bgld-Ausgabe des „Weekend-Magazin“ mit auf und beschäftigt sich seit 2012 beim Nachrichtenmagazin profil mit den unterschiedlichen Aspekten von Innovation (Ressortleitung „Portfolio“). Die sich verändernden Arbeitsbedingungen in ihrer Branche brachten sie dazu ein berufsbegleitendes MBA-Studium mit dem Fachbereich Human Resources zu absolvieren und die Auswirkungen von Industrie 4.0 auf die traditionelle Beschäftigungsstruktur zu erforschen.

NIKI ERNST

As a faculty coach of Singularity University, TEDxAmbassador, Founder of the Silicon Valley Inspiration Tours program and retired “advertiser”, Niki lives in this Jean Claude-van-Damme-like stretch of cultures with some experience of putting thoughts in the right shed.

PETER JUST

Peter incarnates audacious entrepreneurship and creative thinking amalgamated with passionate exploration of new technologies and innovative solutions. Before Fourmation Peter has had a remarkable career combining PR and innovative conceptual ideation, primarily in the context of politics and modern culture. Hence, his references include the EU, furthermore a member of a EU think tank, leading Danish politicians (MP), Film Festivals, TV, opera, music and theatre productions. Peter Just has also been affiliated with Denmark's School of Design as visiting lecturer. Specialties: innovation leadership, tech savvy, disruptive ideation processes, design thinking, global entrepreneurship, blue ocean strategies.

PHILIP SLAPAR

Mit dem Erlös des „Make your vision come true“ Awards gab Philip Kindern und Jugendlichen in Graz die Möglichkeit Sport professionell und kostenlos ausüben zu können. Er ließ einen Sportplatz errichten, was für ihn den ersten Schritt in die Privatwirtschaft bedeutete. Mit SunnyBAG war er nun in der deutschen Fernsehshow „Die Höhle der Löwen“ und konnte einen Investor für seine Idee gewinnen.

ROBERT BORER

Robert Borer is an engineer at heart with an analytical mind and 7+ years of experience in IT system design. He also is a wine lover and winemaker in South-Styria. The symbiosis of these 2 pushes him to find new technology solutions for agricultural problems.

SLAVEN STEKOVIC

Slaven Stekovic is a scientist and entrepreneur working on nutritional ways to prolong human life span and improve health during aging. He has been awarded several international idea awards and is a member of some of the most prestigious international scientific organizations. He is working on innovative strategies for the extension of human life span and application of scientific results into real-life scenarios.