Theme: The Common Extraordinary

The greatest disappointment of all is the ordinary. As we spend most of our days chasing small concerns, we miss out on the exceptional – on all that we can discover, create, and improve upon. In order not to get lost in an unexciting, repetitive daily routine, we must stay curious and give rein to our creativity. There is no harm in being just a little brave and reckless; by taking a step into the unknown, we can shape the mundane into something remarkable.

At TEDxTUMSalon, we invite you to transform the common to the extraordinary and see the everyday in a new light.

Phoenix Design
Hans-Fischer-Straße 10
Munich, Bayern, 80339
Germany

Guy Yachdav

Data Scientist and Entrepreneur

Dr. Guy Yachdav believes that data is the key to understanding and solving problems that affect every single aspect of our lives. Through the use of advanced algorithms and high-performance computing, he works on burning questions from a variety of domains. Whether you are interested in protein folding or who dies next on your favorite TV show, he believes that data can help you reveal the answer. Guy has a multidisciplinary academic background in the life sciences (PhD, Technical University of Munich, Germany), business (Executive MBA, Columbia Business School) and technology (BSc Computer Science, Columbia).

Jörg Drewes

Professor of Urban Water Systems Engineering, TU Munich

Jörg Drewes researches in the fields of energy-efficient water treatment systems and water recycling. He investigates questions like these: How do we determine whether our current water and wastewater treatment systems are working efficiently? How can we engineer reliable systems for water and wastewater treatment? What are novel energy-efficient design approaches for the treatment of water in cities of the future? Prof. Drewes has conducted research in this field in Munich, Berlin, USA (Colorado, Arizona, California, Texas), Australia, and Saudi Arabia. He served on multiple science advisory panels and chaired blue ribbon panels on topics related to public health, engineering, and reliability of water reuse projects, and won multiple awards. In 2008 and 2013, he was appointed to the U.S. National Academies/National Research Council Committees on Water Reuse as an Approach for Meeting Future Water Supply Needs and Onsite Reuse of Graywater and Stormwater, respectively.

Nikolaj Hviid

Entrepreneur and Visionary, CEO of Bragi

The Danish entrepreneur Nikolaj Hviid is the CEO and founder of Bragi GmbH, a company that initiated the most successful crowdfunding campaign in Europe with BRAGI - The Dash. He founded Bragi in 2012 to create a unique user experience through wearable computing. Nikolaj’s vision is to create discrete computers that entertain and take care of you, helping you to understand your body and to get better at what you do. His goal is to enable people to do things they couldn’t before. The Dash was successfully launched as the world’s very first completely wireless smart headphone offering freedom of movement, maximum comfort and amazing sound – all while audibly coaching, tracking movement and capturing key biometric data. The Dash is the world’s first audible contextual computer and a new computing platform.

Sarah Fleischer

WARR Hyperloop team, TU Munich

Sarah Fleischer is the Public Relations Lead of the WARR Hyperloop project at the Technical University of Munich. The team is taking part in the international SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition popularized by Elon Musk, with the goal of developing a prototype for a high-speed ground transport system. The competition initially comprised 700 teams from all over the world. Sarah is a student of Mechanical Engineering and complements her studies with an Honours Degree in Technology Management at CDTM. She sees herself as an Entrepreneurial Engineer and believes that only a multidisciplinary team can make a difference in current issues and reach moonshot goals. Her half Chinese, half German background as well as the fact that she has lived on 3 continents taught her that different cultures and approaches can complement each other to solve problems that really matter.