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).

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Andreea Bobu

Andreea Bobu is an incoming Assistant Professor in the AeroAstro Department at MIT. Her work is at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and mathematical human modeling. Specifically, Andreea studies algorithmic human-robot interaction, with a focus on how autonomous agents and humans can efficiently and interactively arrive at shared representations of their tasks for more seamless and reliable interaction. She obtained her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley with Anca Dragan in 2023. Prior to her Ph.D. she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT in 2017. She was the recipient of the Apple AI/ML Ph.D. fellowship, is a Rising Star in EECS and an R:SS and HRI Pioneer, and has won best paper award at HRI 2020 and the Emerging Research Award at the International Symposium on the Mathematics of Neuroscience 2023.

Andres Rico

Andres is a Ph.D. student from Mexico City at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab. He has a background in robotics, AI, and innovation. He is interested in understanding ways in which we can improve how we design, manage, and operate cities. His current work at MIT is focused on the development of community-scale, low-cost, and opportunistic sensor networks and algorithms. These systems aim to empower local communities with better information for resource management and promote larger scale policy changes; enhancing the social and environmental performance of cities.

Andrew Lo

"Andrew W. Lo is the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the director of MIT’s Laboratory for Financial Engineering, a principal investigator at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, and an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. His current research focuses on systemic risk in the financial system; evolutionary approaches to investor behavior, bounded rationality, and financial regulation; and applying financial engineering to develop new funding models for biomedical innovation and fusion energy. Lo has published extensively in academic journals (see http://alo.mit.edu) and his most recent book is The Adaptive Markets Hypothesis: An Evolutionary Approach to Understanding Financial System Dynamics. His awards include Batterymarch, Guggenheim, and Sloan Fellowships; the Paul A. Samuelson Award; the Eugene Fama Prize; the IAFE-SunGard Financial Engineer of the Year; the Global Association of Risk Professionals Risk Manager of the Year; one of TIME’s “100 most influential people in the world”; and awards for teaching excellence from both Wharton and MIT. He received a B.A. in economics from Yale University and an A.M. and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. "

Annika Thomas

Annika Thomas is a PhD candidate at MIT’s Aerospace Controls Laboratory, specializing in robotic perception. She aspires to design, integrate, and optimize autonomous robotic systems systems while contributing to a more inclusive culture of women in STEM.

Cayden Pierce

Cayden Pierce is a graduate researcher at the MIT Media Lab with a focus on using wearables and augmented reality to enhance human communication and learning. With a background in software, electrical engineering, and design, his work spans various facets of human-computer interaction. Cayden is currently involved in developing smart glasses that leverage AI and context-aware technology to transform traditional language learning methods, aiming to make learning faster, better, and more rewarding. Some of his previous projects include a mobile engineering research lab, brain stimulation musical headphones, visual-feedback benchpress, understanding language model latent space, visual brain decoding wearables, and other systems at the edges of human augmentation.

Deborah Douglas

Deborah Douglas has been interested in aerospace history for forty years. Her passion is sharing stories about the history of technology. Amazingly, Douglas’ first job was at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and she has done stints at the NASA Langley Research Center, and Science History Institute before joining the MIT Museum in 1999 as the inaugural curator of science and technology. She writes books and articles, curates exhibitions, contributes to documentary videos, teaches a class on MIT history and is privileged to work as part of a talented team who care for 1.5 million artifacts in the MIT Museum’s collections. "

Guy Fedorkow

Guy C. Fedorkow received his BASc and MASc in Engineering Sciences at University of Toronto, and went on to develop both communications and high-throughput parallel computer architectures at Bolt, Beranek and Newman in Cambridge, MA, Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks, where he has served as system architect for a number of communications products. Guy’s work currently includes infrastructure security and trusted computing topics at Juniper Networks, the Trusted Computing Group and IETF. In addition, Guy works on history-of-computing in collaboration with colleagues at the MIT Museum and at the Computer History Museum.

John Leonard

John J. Leonard is Samuel C. Collins Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering and Associate Department Head for Education in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is also a member of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). His research addresses the problems of navigation and mapping for autonomous underwater vehicles, self-driving vehicles, and other types of mobile robots. He holds the degrees of B.S.E.E. in Electrical Engineering and Science from the University of Pennsylvania (1987) and D.Phil. in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford (1994). He is an IEEE Fellow (2014) and an AAAS Fellow (2020). Prof. Leonard is a Technical Advisor at Toyota Research Institute.

MIT Video Game Orchestra

The MIT Video Game Orchestra is a student-led ensemble at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dedicated to playing original arrangements of video game music, film soundtracks, and all kinds of music not usually heard in concert halls. Made up of a mix of orchestral, band, and popular instruments, we play a wide variety of genres. All our arrangements are written by members of the orchestra and are tailored for the group, and we hold workshops to help members develop their arranging and orchestration skills. Check out our social media pages at https://linktr.ee/mitvgo!

Runako Gentles

Runako Gentles is an international student from Jamaica studying environmental engineering at MIT. He is working towards helping the Caribbean adapt to climate change and develop sustainably. He wants to combine his love for public speaking, music and entrepreneurship to move the needle in achieving a more sustainable and equitable world. In the upcoming fall, he will going to Stanford University to pursue a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering.