Theme: Pulse

All around us, life corresponds to a beat. Footsteps fall along sidewalks and basketballs bounce on public courts—modern-day metronomes of a city’s rhythm. Grocery checkouts beep and postal workers buzz doors, keeping time across society’s most vital functions.

The Pulse of a place in the world is created by its people: citizens, newcomers, children, and those who shape history. Inevitably, times change. New ideas rock the foundations of stale circumstances and modern concepts permeate tired views. A pulse isn’t limited to waves on a chart—it’s a glimpse at the epicenter of who we are.

TEDxTUM 2021 encourages you to think in a new way about the tempo of our time: what pieces of our history will we revitalize in a new era? In what ways will we shift and flicker into something different? As history writes itself with us, TEDxTUM invites you to examine the flutters of our way of life.

TUM Main campus
Arcisstraße 21
Munich, Bayern
Germany

Benedikt Ummen & Magdalena Witty

Married Couple

Life is full of surprises, which is one of its joys but it can also be daunting when things don’t go as planned. Having experienced this first-hand on an electric car trip along the Silk Road, Benedikt and Magdalena wanted their marriage to be set up having this uncertainty in mind.

Christiana Bukalo

Social Change Maker

Christiana Bukalo is the founder of Statefree e.V, an organization that aims to build a community and provide a platform for stateless people around the world. Following an unsuccessful and burdensome trip to Morocco, she decided not to let her emotions get the best of her and to make it her mission to change the system. Striving for equal opportunities for participation and holistic inclusion, Christiana calls for a global conversation with authorities, civil society actors, fellow activists and advocates.

Cosma Joy

Singer & Songwriter

Cosma Joy, 20, is a singer and songwriter from Munich. It was music which connected her parents, who met while playing together in a band, and this has shaped her life since childhood. At the age of 16, she left school and dedicated herself to the music she often heard at home: Jazz, Folk, and Rock. At just 17, she had found her own voice and was the “Artist of the Week” at Puls. At the 2018 Puls Festival, she performed with the Münchner Rundfunk Orchester, and provided backup for Tom Odell and Tom Walker. Recently, she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Daniel Cremers

Computer Vision Researcher

Daniel Cremers is a physicist by training, a computer vision researcher by occupation, and head of the Chair of Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich. His passion for computer vision and robotics has made him one of the most eminent researchers in the field as well as a pioneer in new algorithms for 3D computer vision. His work includes more accurate methods for camera-based reconstruction, more robust tracking approaches for moving cameras and novel ways of understanding 3D shapes. In 2016, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize for his pioneering research in image processing and pattern recognition.

Handstand Twins

Handbalancing Athletes

When Anna and Caro met in Munich in 2018, their world was turned upside down--quite literally! Since then, they have become an inspiring and unique hand balancing duo. Starting with casual workouts, they have now specialized in synchronized hand balancing performances and have taken social media by storm. As handstand coaches, Anna and Caroline guide others on their personal handstand journey that also teaches patience, perseverance and self-awareness.

Nightline München

Mental Health Initiative

Nightline München was founded in 2010 as an independent, non-profit initiative. Inspired by a concept that first originated in the UK, the goal of the initiative is to provide an ear to as many troubled minds as possible. The listeners never offer advice, and keep all conversations non-judgmental and non-directional. In addition, to ensure that each call is a safe space, all Nightliners maintain strict anonymity. The speaker, therefore, wishes to remain anonymous.

Sebastian Copeland

Polar Explorer

Sebastian Copeland made it his mission to call our attention to the most urgent problem facing our generation: climate change. Combining his proclivity for adventure with his inherent inclination toward visual arts and science, he captures and perpetuates the beauty—and the endangerment—of the Polar regions through photography. For his expeditions, Sebastian Copeland was named one of the world’s 25 Most Adventurous Men of the last 25 years by Men’s Journal; he was awarded Photographer of the Year on four occasions, and received the National Order of Merit by French President Emmanuel Macron.