Theme: Limitless

As children our parents always told us we can grow up to do anything we set our minds to. We grew up believing we were limitless, but is that really true? This talk hopes to explore the ideas of our potential as individuals and as a society. We hope our audience will walk away with a new understand of the limits we place on ourselves and each other.

Packard Laboratory Room 101
27 Memorial Dr W
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015
United States

Arup Sengupta

Professor

ARUP K. SENGUPTA is currently the P.C.Rossin professor of the department of civil and environmental engineering and the department of chemical engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA. He received his BS in chemical engineering in 1972 from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India and PhD in environmental engineering in 1984 from the University of Houston, TX in the USA. SenGupta authored the book ‘Ion Exchange in Environmental Processes’ by Wiley & Sons. SenGupta is the recipient of 11 US patents and his research in environmental processes and sustainable materials have received awards from national and international organizations: 2009 Astellas Foundation Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS), 2009 Lawrence K. Cecil Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), 2007 Grainger Challenge Award from the National Academy of Engineering and 2012 Intel Environmental Award for Technology Benefiting Humanity among others.

Dick Boak

Artist

Dick Boak has enjoyed working for the world-renowned Martin Guitar Company in Nazareth, PA for the past 41 years. He is perhaps best known for establishing Martin’s Artist Relations and Limited Edition guitar program that produced signature models for more than one hundred legendary artists including Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, Mark Knopfler, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, John Mayer, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Sting. Originally hired as a design draftsman, he has been a builder of prototypes, manager of Martin's Sawmill, director of Martin’s in-house advertising department and print shop, and most recently the director of Martin’s Museum and Archives. Dick has authored five books about musical instruments and founded “ASIA” (The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans). Dick is an accomplished and published illustrator, writer, designer, woodworker, guitarmaker, and recording artist. He resides just north of Nazareth with his family.

Mary Fran Bontempo

Author

Mary Fran Bontempo is a speaker, author, and humorist who teaches audiences to control their most powerful influence: Self-Talk. Author of The Woman’s Book of Dirty Words, and Not Ready for Granny Panties—The 11 Commandments for Avoiding Granny Panties, Mary Fran proves small changes in self-talk yield big life changes, allowing individuals to be positive, productive and successful in a rapidly changing world. A Huffington Post and Thrive Global contributor, and syndicated columnist for multiple online platforms, Mary Fran inspires readers and listeners to tame the self-talk beast. After thirty years’ experience as owner of a full-service recruiting firm and finding herself in the middle of a perfect life storm—turning 50, a crashing economy, and most devastating, a son battling heroin addiction—Mary Fran created the blog, Not Ready for Granny Panties, evolving as a motivational speaker and program leader. She is also a founder of the business/life podcast, 4 Chicks Chatting.

William Wan

Student

William Wan is a currently a Sophomore in the Computer Science and Business program at Lehigh University. Born in Guiyang, China, William moved to Vancouver Canada at the age of five. Yet at the age of ten, his parents moved him back to Shanghai due to his lack of ability to speak his mother tongue. After realizing the eastern education wasn’t right for him, he flew to Chicago for high school, and eventually ended up at Lehigh.William has given countless talks on the differences between western and eastern education and the differences in the two cultures as a whole. Ever since a tragic incident towards the end of his high school career, William has developed a burning interest in how motivation works and the way it affects people. Joining his two passions, he co-founded TechX Summit, an education program based in Shanghai that gives the youth of China a chance to have hands-on experience with today’s cutting edge technology.