TexasTechUniversity
x = independently organized TED event

This event occurred on
February 28, 2015
8:00am - 5:00pm CST
(UTC -6hrs)
Lubbock, Texas
United States

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Student Union
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas, 79409
United States
Event type:
University (What is this?)
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Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check event website for more information.

Bernard Harris

Bernard A. Harris Jr., astronaut and president of the Harris Foundation, holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Houston, a M.M.S. from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, an MBA from the University of Houston Clear Lake and an M.D. from Texas Tech University School of Medicine. Harris received the NASA Space Flight Medal, NASA Award of Merit, is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and was the recipient of the 2000 Horatio Alger Award. Selected into the Astronaut Corp in January 1990, Harris was a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-55/Spacelab D-2 in 1993. As Payload Commander on Space Shuttle Discovery STS-63 in 1995, he served on the first flight of the joint Russian-American Space Program, becoming the “first African-American to walk in space."

Bryan Padgett

Bryan Padgett served five years traveling the U.S. mobilizing college students and churches to live missionally. Padgett is passionate about seeing the wrongs of the world made right. One such wrong is sex trafficking. Padgett is an avid believer that this horrific wrong can be made right, and believes that this can be accomplished in a way that is little talked about around the globe today. Currently, he is the pastor of Missions Mobilization at Redeemer Church in Lubbock. He has spoken at numerous Perspectives on the World Christian Movement courses and spent time overseas in China, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Uganda and Sudan. He earned a B.S. in speech communications from Oklahoma State University.

Cagri Makirci

Çağrı Mert Bakırcı is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Whitacre College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. His main expertise is on evolutionary biology, with a focus on evolutionary robotics, a field that tries to apply the principles of evolutionary biology to robotics and artificial intelligence. Bakırcı is aiming to make long term improvements to systems that work with artificial intelligence, using evolutionary algorithms.

Calder Hendrickson

Calder Hendrickson is a Lubbock resident and president and chief technology officer of AquaSmart, a company that produces a highly absorbent polymer coating for sand, fertilizer and seeds. The coatings help to trap water thereby decreasing the amount of water lost to environmental factors such as evaporation. The technology will help to revolutionize agriculture, landscaping, construction and oil and gas production as the polymer coating essentially augments the effectiveness of each water droplet, allowing farmers, ranchers, homeowners and other consumers to more efficiently use the limited water resources. Hendrickson bought the patent to the revolutionary polymer coating, founded AquaSmart and was recently named Forbes magazine's top 30 most influential leaders in the field of energy.

Christian Forgey

Christian Forgey is the founder and president of Light Bohrd, Inc. A Texas Tech graduate, Forgey is an innovator and entrepreneur who, inspired by his son’s passion for skate boarding, found an opportunity to create the world’s first illuminated graphics for the board sports industry. Continued innovation has led to illuminated apparel for marketing, sports and safety applications. Forgey and Light Bohrd recently won the “Future Show” competition hosted by Under Armour.

Jeremy Snead

Born and raised in Levelland, Texas, Jeremy Snead is the founder of Mediajuice Studios, an award-winning film production studio based in Dallas. Jeremy has directed many commercials, video game trailers, short films, TV spots and music videos for triple A video game and consumer products companies like Hasbro, Activision and many more.

Joshua Willms

Joshua Willms is an M.D./Ph.D. student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and aspires to a career in medicine and neuroscience. He received a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in classics from Texas Tech University in 2014 and completed an Honors Thesis in philosophy on the fine-tuning of physics for abiogenesis. Willms has three years of research experience in marine biology, and two years of research experience in plant ecology. This wide base has allowed Willms an appreciation for seeing the world from multiple vantage points.

Julissa Arce

Julissa Arce is the director of development at Define American, an organization that uses the “power of story to transcend politics and shift the conversation around citizenship.” Arce built a successful career on Wall Street working at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and had seemingly achieved the American Dream of wealth and status, and yet she was not part of what defined American. Arce asked herself, what if she defined American – a woman from Mexico who (while undocumented) achieved career success. Her story has been featured in ELLE magazine.

Katharine Hayhoe

Katharine Hayhoe, Ph.D., is director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech, part of the South-Central Climate Science Center. Her research focuses on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections to evaluate the future impacts of climate change on human society and the natural environment. Hayhoe has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and served as lead author on key reports for the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Academy of Sciences. Hayhoe is currently serving as lead author for the 2014 Third U.S. National Climate Assessment. Hayhoe earned a bachelor’s of science in physics and astronomy from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Kitty Harris Wilkes

Kitty Harris Wilkes, Ph.D. is a professor and faculty member in the Addictive Disorder and Recovery Studies program in the Department of Community Family and Addiction Services in the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University (TTU). She serves as the director of Recovery Science Research. Harris Wilkes received her doctorate in human development and family studies from Texas Tech University and a master’s degree in communication and bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of North Texas. Harris Wilkes served for 12 years as the director of the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery (CSAR) at TTU. She is the recipient of many awards including the America Honors Recovery Award for her efforts in working with college students in recovery, the TTU Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award, and the Bob Knowlton Service Award that recognizes significant contributions to adolescent recovery throughout the state of Texas.

Laura Heinz

Laura Heinz is the head of research, instruction and outreach for the University Libraries at Texas Tech University. Information Services provides instruction, research assistance and collection development for the academic campus. Heinz is also responsible for conducting assessment of reference services and using the results to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of services.

Patricia Hawley

Patricia Hawley, Ph.D., is a professor of educational psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. Her research focuses on the psychological underpinnings of human social power and social success and challenges prevalent thought on aggression and social adaptation, as well as common assumptions about gender and social status. Currently Hawley is researching morality, aggression, power in relationships and attitudes toward evolutionary theory and its applications

Ron Milam

Ron Milam Ron Milam Ron Milam, Ph.D., is an associate professor of history at Texas Tech University, a Fulbright Scholar to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Faculty adviser to the Veteran’s Association at Texas Tech. Milam is a historian of the Vietnam War, and has been teaching courses in terrorism and insurgency, an interest that developed from his work as an academic fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He currently serves on the Content Advisory Committee tasked with writing the history of the Vietnam War for the new Education Center at The Wall in Washington, D.C. Milam earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Houston. He is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, and collects and rides motorcycles.

Savanna Barksdale

Savanna Barksdale is a freshman Honors College student and an agricultural communications major with a Spanish and Political Science minor at Texas Tech University. Barksdale grew up in Farwell, Texas, a small agriculturally-centered community where everyone is considered a neighbor. Being surrounded by wide-open pastures and fields, she loves the outdoors and finds immense peace in a vast horizon with an impeccable West Texas sunset.

Organizing team