Theme: Connect & Converge

The same TEDxUofT magic, just smaller.

The first ever TEDxUofTSalon featured 3 graduate speakers sharing their research. 50 curious attendees were invited to interact with the speakers and their fellow guests to discuss the ideas presented, ask questions, and explore the theme from different viewpoints; experiencing an evening of ideas worth sharing, engaging in lively discussions about the topics at hand, and creating a deeper connection to the TEDxUofT community.

From graphics cards to bank cards; from matrices to medicine; from the movement of atoms to the movement of self-driving cars, mathematics is all around us. Come open your eyes to the mathematical convergence of science and society!

Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences
222 College St
Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3J1
Canada

Grey Kuling

Mathematician and Physicist

Grey Kuling is a mathematician and physicist, originally from Saint John, New Brunswick. He completed his undergraduate at University of New Brunswick in physics and recently completed a Masters in Mathematics at York University. He is currently enrolled in the two year Master’s program of Medical Biophysics at University of Toronto. Kuling originally planned to be a professional dancer from childhood before finding a talent in mathematics. His passion for performing arts has enriched his experience to be an enthusiastic teacher of mathematics. He believes everyone is capable of understanding complex math with the proper guide. He is pursuing research currently in automatic segmentation of medical images and radiation modelling for cancer treatment.

Thomas Bury

Applied Mathematician

Thomas Bury is an applied mathematician who works broadly in the area of complex systems and their behaviour near critical thresholds. He is currently applying his methodologies to ecological and epidemiological systems, in view of contributing the ‘mathematical toolkit’ used by practitioners and policy makers to assess the vulnerability of their system to a critical transition. If you are sailing and the wind picks up, at what point will your boat capsize? Answering questions like this one is Thomas Bury, an applied mathematician studying how systems behave near critical thresholds. Whether it’s to prevent disasters or predict reactions, a better understanding of the science behind tipping points is essential to understanding both natural and artificial phenomena.

Tyrone Ghaswala

Pure Mathematician

What does everybody's favourite 80s arcade game protagonist have to do with donuts, let alone pure mathematics? Our second speaker at TEDxUofTSalon: Connect and Converge will take us on a journey through a branch of pure math called topology. We will explore the question of which worlds Pac-Man could inhabit, as well as his 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional cousins! Tyrone hopes to leave you with an impression of pure mathematics as an intensely beautiful subject worth studying in its own right, with surprising and often unintended applications. At the very least, you will be convinced that not only does Pac-Man enjoy the occasional donut, he in fact lives on one!