SSN
x = independently organized TED event

Theme: Ideas for India

This event occurred on
February 9, 2011
Chennai
India

TEDxSSN aspires to be a path-breaking TEDx event, excelling in terms of Innovation, Reach, Speakers, Quality of the event, and Spirited audience. With an impressive and patriotic theme - "Ideas For India".Our event would spread the cheer in India, by bringing out the best of the Ideas in the minds of some of the best people of the nation, that would transform the phase of development in India. Our Esteemed Speakers, include the stalwarts and upcoming professionals in every crucial domain of the country.

SSN College of Engineering, Chennai
SSN College of Engineering, Old Mahabalipuram Road
Chennai, 603110
India
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Speakers

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

Krish Ashok

Krish Ashok is the Head of Web 2.0 Innovation labs at Tata Consultancy Services, Chennai. After having worked with Fortune 500 clients on several large IT projects as a solution architect, he realized his passion for Web 2.0 which could be used to help entreprises adopt social software and then moved into his current role at TCS. He is a passionate open source enthusiast, an amateur Rubyist, a classical violinist and a guitarist, an amateur cellist,used to be a Radio Jockey with Chennai Live 104.8 and is now a columnist for Indian Express, where he writes a weekly column called “Globalized Gapsaa” that looks at the impact of technology on globalization and culture in a humorous vein. He also writes for Cricinfo. He is the capacious mind behind Doing Jalsa And Showing Jilpa – one of the most popular blogs in the Indian Blogosphere. In his own words, Krish Ashok is a music loving philistine who is doing jalsa, showing jilpa, enjoying gilma, vuttufying peter, sutthufying ooru and generally having gajabuja fun.

Dr.Pawan Agrawal

Dr.PawanAgrawal CEO, Mumbai Dabbawalas (M.Com., B.Ed., LL.B., A.C.S., Ph.D.) Dr.Pawan Girdharilal Agrawal is the CEO of the renowned Mumbai Dabbawalas. A Proficient professional with fascination towards enlightening and encouraging students in Academic field, he is involved in conducting research and contributing to the design and delivery of courses for the entire educational fraternity, and fostering a positive learning environment by embracing a wide range of teaching methodologies. He has proven abilities of working as a teacher & playing pivotal role as the Co. founder of various educational institutes and schools. He is presently the President of Institute of Management & technology, Mumbai, and the Lions Club of Ghatkopar, and the Editor of a monthly, Guruwani. He has numerous accomplishments to his credit along with initiating inspirational projects related to establishment of various institutions including the Kamalabai Educational & Charitable Trust, the Agrawal Institute of Management & Technology, and the Dadasaheb Govindram Literacy Centre. He has been awarded “Best Teacher Award” for the year 1994 -95 by Dnyan Prasarak Shikshan Sanstha, Mumbai for his exemplary contribution in the education field. Dr. Pawan has completed his Ph.D thesis on the title, ‘A study of Logistics and Supply Chain Management of Dabbawala in Mumbai’. He has travelled worldwide spreading awareness about the Dabbawalas and delivered lectures at Paris, Netherlands, US, UK and at management institutions all over India. He has been appreciated for showing empathy for the socially weaker strata of society and initiating various activities for their upliftment of the economically Backward Areas in Mumbai..

Kandaswamy Bharathan

Independent Trustee of ALERT ,CEO of DLM Digital studios Pvt Ltd Mr. Kandaswamy Bharathan, an independent Trustee of ALERT is the CEO of DLM Digital studios Pvt Ltd and the Executive Director of Kavithaalaya Productions, a leading production house. An alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad, he is also the visiting faculty of the prestigious institute of management. His social bent of mind apart from being a complete professional makes him unique.A behind-the-scenes man, he is best known for making “Muthu” a household name in Japan.One of the first things Bharathan did was to apply the concept of marketing research to the film business. In view of the innovation and creative marketing approach, Mr Kandaswamy earned the name of ‘Cultural Ambassador’ by the Japanese media. He has been a ‘Brand Ambassador’ for Indian entertainment industry in U.S., U.K and the Far East, through participation at Film festivals, international conferences and events. He was a member of Confederation of Indian Industry Delegation to the American Film Market 2003 (AFMA) which was held at Santa Monica, California.

Atul Chitnis

Technology Consultant, operating out of Bangalore, India, Founder FOSS.IN Arguably one of India’s best known technologists, Atul has been at the forefront of India’s technology evolution since the 1980s, predicting and driving new technology waves such as datacommunication, networking, the Internet, wireless and mobile computing, and Open Source, among others. His focus areas include mobile and hand-held computing, wireless data networks, Linux and Open Source Software, virtual communities, technology convergence (including Voice over IP and entertainment oriented technologies such as Internet Radio), and the identification and understanding of future technologies. In recent times, his focus has been on “The Next Billion Users” – dealing with the development of solutions for people who will not be using computers that bind them to a location, but devices that are part of their lifestyle, such as tablets, mobile phones and other non-PC devices. He is also very interested in raising interest in technology and innovation among young people in India. He uses the concept of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) to help people achieve a deeper understanding of technology. Atul is a well known public speaker and writer, known for his ability to “humanize technology”. .

Atul Chitnis

Technology Consultant, operating out of Bangalore, India, Founder FOSS.IN Arguably one of India’s best known technologists, Atul has been at the forefront of India’s technology evolution since the 1980s, predicting and driving new technology waves such as datacommunication, networking, the Internet, wireless and mobile computing, and Open Source, among others. His focus areas include mobile and hand-held computing, wireless data networks, Linux and Open Source Software, virtual communities, technology convergence (including Voice over IP and entertainment oriented technologies such as Internet Radio), and the identification and understanding of future technologies. In recent times, his focus has been on “The Next Billion Users” – dealing with the development of solutions for people who will not be using computers that bind them to a location, but devices that are part of their lifestyle, such as tablets, mobile phones and other non-PC devices. He is also very interested in raising interest in technology and innovation among young people in India. He uses the concept of Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) to help people achieve a deeper understanding of technology. Atul is a well known public speaker and writer, known for his ability to “humanize technology”. .

Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan

Writer, Photographer and Goofball from Chennai Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan is a writer, photographer and goofball from Chennai. He turned his long-time interest in history and heritage into a very expensive MA programme, Archaeology for Screen Media, and is now working on creating a TV and Web series on the history and poetics of Tamil culture. He hopes this will help pay back his student loans. Meanwhile, he writes copy, edits newsletters and curses writing-by-committe

Yodhakaa Band

A contemporary Indian music band Yodhakaa is a contemporary Indian music band that evolved around the idea of finding a bridge between the traditional and contemporary. Their music is a collage of all the inspirations and influences they have encountered in their journey as artists. They hope to evolve, embrace more cultures, languages and people, because they don’t want to remain a bunch of musicians forever. They want to make noise; they want their voices to be heard… because they have so many things to say, so many messages to send. Yodhakaa was founded by ‘darbuka’ siva in 2005 with a pretty simple idea of covering songs by various world music artists from different corners of the world and arranging it with an Indian twist. Pradeep and Susha joined a couple of years later, bringing a strong Indian classical influence into the band, and took Yodhakaa in quite a different direction. The band was performing often, with a constantly changing line-up of musicians, but managed to carve a niche for their left- of- centre approach. Though they were doing shows and travelling, they were still on a constant search for a sound that meant more than doing covers, or randomly putting together ideas and hoping it will work. Luckily for them the search ended in January 2009, when they found something, not surprisingly far from our own heritage to carry forward their ideas, through ancient Sanskrit ‘slokams’, dug out from manuscripts and texts, each one towering in significance and value. This made Yodhakaa’s sound what it is today.

Madhuvanthi Arun

Educationist and Artiste Madhuvanthi Arun is the granddaughter of the eminent educationist, Dr. Mrs.Y.G.Parthasarathy and Late Shri.Y.G.Parthasarathy, a pioneer of social themes in Tamil theatre and the former Principal of the Film and Television Institute of India. She is the daughter of Tamil cinema and theatre personality Mr.Y.Gee.Mahendra. This all-round personality holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication and a Masters degree in Education. She has worked as the coordinator for the nursery section of the T.P. Road branch of the Padma Seshadri group of schools. Madhuvanthi plays many roles. She is an educationist, dancer, singer and actor, Cultural Consultant of the Bharat Kalachar and the South India Coordinator of the UNFPA Laadli movement. .

Isaac Demetrius

Animal Consultant and Wildlife Guide Demetrius Isaac is one of the leading animal consultants in south India. Though qualified with a masters degree in Criminology and was selected to be a police officer, he decided to follow his passion for animals, nature and wildlife and make a career out of it. He set up two businesses in that direction, Pegasus Animal consultancy and Pugmarks wildlife outings. While Pegasus animal consultancy is a pioneering organization extending advice on all genera of fauna, Pugmarks organises wildlife and nature learning experiences. Since ’91, Isaac has worked with various Govt. Departments, Zoos, Educational institutions, Amusement parks, resorts and many eminent individuals.Isaac is a member of various societies and associations, both National and International, in the fields of Animal Husbandry, wildlife and Nature conservation, some, where membership is by invitation based on achievements in the relevant field. Isaac is a prolific writer on the chosen fields and contributes regularly to journals, magazines and newspapers. He also delivers lectures on these subjects to varied gatherings ranging from school children to fulltime scientists and academics . His other interests are motorcycling and rifle-shooting and has won titles and prizes in both pursuits. Isaac Demetrius will talk about “Following your Dream” and the pleasure he has derived from doing so.

Badri Seshadri

MD and Publisher Kizhakku Pathippagam, Co-Founder Cricinfo.com Badri obtained his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras and a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. He co-founded Cricinfo.com in 1994 along with several others and worked for Cricinfo till 2004. In 2004, Badri Seshadri co-founded New Horizon Media (NHM) with K. Satyanarayan and R. Ananthkumar. NHM is a regional language publishing company which has published books in Tamil, English and Malayalam. Badri believes that there is a considerable demand for knowledge content in Indian languages but the publishers have failed in catering to this demand. NHM addresses this need and has succeeded in becoming the number 1 publisher in Tamil now. Badri has written a few books for children in Tamil and English, and has translated some books from English to Tamil. He maintains a blog in Tamil at http://thoughtsintamil.blogspot.com/ and writes regularly for several Tamil magazines. He makes regular visits to schools and colleges across Tamil Nadu and talks to the students on a variety of topic

Navneeth Sundar

Performer, Composer and Music Director Navneeth is an acclaimed Indian fusion musician. He holds the title of “Sangeetha Bhaskara” awarded at Naradha Gana Sabha mini hall by Gnanaskandan trust for his excellence in Indian Classical music. A self-taught keyboard player with over 18 years of experience as a performer, he is well known among the music fraternity and quite a familiar face among the TV audiences through his guest appearances in popular TV shows like Airtel Super Singer, Hariyudan Naan, Chennaiyil Thiruvayyaaru and many others. He has worked with many of the leading musicians from across the country and leading music directors like Maestro Ilayaraja. Has played in the Nothing But Wind Live concert of Maestro Ilayaraja which was the first ever time the epic album was performed on stage and has also been featured in A R Rahman’s World Tamil Conference music video. He is also a music composer and lyric writer and has composed many jingles, promos, corporate anthems, short films and songs. His title song for the Tamil television serial “Madhavi” was rated to be among the top 3 television title songs among all Tamil chennels by Kumudham magazine. He is currently a music director and working on films in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.

Samuel Eddy

Founder F4, Curator and sole Licensee BIL Conference India Samuel Eddy started his career in A,V,Thomas and Co specializing in Tea and then onto Cardamom growing and Processing. He then went onto growing and processing Jasmine Concretes for the perfume Industry in France. He then set up the Retailing business for retailing spices for the Middle East market . He then worked for Mac Industries Ltd setting up a modern Pappad processing plant for the UK Market. He then pioneered the export of organic fruits for the German market. . In 1995 he set up Chennai’s first event management Company and came up with the concept of Corporate Recreation services for the IT industry. He also set up India’s first Petting Zoo .In 2008 he set up a Finishing School for Engineering graduates helping over 1500 students get placement in IT companies. He then was Marine Coordinator for a shipping company handling the quantity and quality analysis of all crude oil coming into the country, Eddy is also the Chief Coordinator for TEDxChennai . In 2011 he was the Curator and Sole licensee for BIL conferences in India and organaised the first ever BIL Conference in Chennai. He is now involved in bringing in several TED like concepts like Chic Meets Geek ,Do lectures etc into India. He is also the Founder of F4( Face to Face Facebook Friends) an unique meetup which has no agenda nor timing,which is rapidly spreading all over the country and the world.

Pradeep John

International Beach Volleyball Player Pradeep John is the deputy manager of State Bank Of India, Chennai, and an Internation volleyball and beach volleyball player. Pradeep started his Volleyball career in the year 1994, he represented the Junior Indian Team at the World qualification tournament in 1995 at China and Bagged theGold Medal. He is a Member of Indian Junior team to play friendly matches in Germany & Czech republic in preparation for Junior World Championship. He represented the Country a Quad-e-Azam International Tournament in Pakistan and secured the Silver medal. He Captained the Indian Junior team at the tournament in North Korea during 1996 in preparation for Junior Asian Championship. He is also a Star player of the TN state volleyball team from 1995 till 2002.. He started a career in Beach Volleyball in 1997 and got selected to represent the Indian team to take part in the Asian Beach Volleyball Championship at Indonesia. He represented the country in the 4 Man World Beach-Volleyball series in Hong Kong and won the Plate Championship. He represented the country in FAJR Beach championship in Iran (Kish Island) in 2001. He became the National Champion by winning the National Championship held at Goa in 2002 thereby qualifying to play in the Asian Championship held at Thailand and Asian Summer Championship held at Bahrain.

Organizing team

Karthik
Subramanian

Chennai, India
Organizer

Kiruba
Shankar

Chennai Tn, India
Co-organizer
  • Arun Suresh
    Chief Co-ordinator