Theme: Be the Shift!

From young to old, we have to deal with change. For this second TEDxOpenUniversiteitHeerlen, we have asked inspired speakers to address the theme Be the Shift! In response to the constant changes, our speakers did not stiffen or rebel, but took action. What shifts have they seen coming in their lives or work? How do they deal with these shifts? Why did they start changing and what caused that movement? How did they start moving?

TEDxOpenUniversiteitHeerlen
Pancratiusstraat 30
Heerlen, Limburg, 6411KC
Netherlands

Alexander Peine

professor of culture, innovation and communication

Alexander Peine is professor of culture, innovation and communication at Open Universiteit in The Netherlands. He is also the founding chair of the Socio-gerontechnology Network which brings together scholars from various backgrounds worldwide interested in critical studies of ageing and technology. And he is the vice-chair of the societal advisory board of the EU's Joint Programming Initiative 'More Years, Better Lives' (JPI-MYBL). Alex’s research explores the many intersections between population ageing, including the challenges it allegedly poses for care and health systems, and technological change, including the push towards more interactive and 'smarter' technologies. His work has expanded the usual drive in this area to think of technologies as interventions with a unique line of research that thinks of ageing, care and health as being co-constituted with technology.

Jerry de Vos

research hardware engineer

Jerry de Vos, an industrial engineer by education, is dedicated to finding innovative solutions for both small and large-scale problems. From a young age, he has had a passion for creating his own toys, tools, and technologies. This lifelong pursuit has evolved into a focus on two key themes: plastics and open-source hardware. Currently, he works as a research hardware engineer at TU Delft, where he can combine both his passions. In this role, he empowers others to embrace open-source principles by making their projects accessible to all. By fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, he strives to open up technology and foster creative problem-solving. Jerry started an impactful initiative called the Plastic Scanner project. This project aims to identify different types of plastic for recycling, contributing significantly to the fight against plastic pollution. Leveraging his expertise, he works towards developing practical solutions to address this global challenge head-on.

Jetse Stoorvogel

professor integrated environmental modelling

Jetse Stoorvogel is an environmental scientist with a background in soil science, (tropical) agriculture, and environmental modelling. His research focuses on the complex feedbacks between land management and natural resources. He is specifically interested in modelling these feedbacks for informed decision making and stakeholder discussions. During the past 30 years, Jetse studied environmental change and tried to describe the complex relationships in environmental models. This has not only led to a broad range of scientific publications and keynote presentations at international conferences, but foremost it has led to fascinating discussions with farmers, politicians and other stakeholders. Jetse aims to develop the proper tools for supporting the debate on environmental management.

Maria Verschoor

Dutch Olympic hockey player and student at Open Universiteit

Maria Verschoor, age 29, a professional hockey player, is preparing for the Paris Olympic Games 2024. She loves spending time with her family and friends. Additonally she loves being outside in nature: she often takes morning dives (even in winter) and went camping in France twice this summer. Besides all the training, she tries to study and that works very well at the Open Universiteit. She likes the flexibility with which she can study. It allows her to schedule everything herself and, despite the fact that she is also often away from home because of hockey, she can still slowly continue her studies.

Mark Hommes

assistant professor clinical psychology

Mark Hommes examines the effects of (self)stigma, social support and coping on the wellbeing of transgender individuals. He does so before, during and after gender reaffirming treatment (transition) thus exploring the effects of such a treatment on the lives of the transgender person, their families and their environment. Through studying these experiences (both from quantitative data and direct personal experience) his main interest is now shifting towards the question ‘what makes gender reaffirming treatment successful in enhancing happiness?’.

Tanja Vos

professor software engineering

Tanja Vos is professor Software Engineering at Open Universiteit in The Netherlands and an associate professor at Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain. She has dedicated her career to advancing the field of software testing through her extensive research and more than 25 years of teaching experience. Tanja Vos has been involved in numerous research projects on software testing in an industrial setting. She has successfully coordinated various EU-funded projects related to software testing, demonstrating her expertise and leadership in the field. Her involvement in various Erasmus and Leonardo initiatives has helped to foster a better understanding between academia and business. Her research and industry experience have led her to work with many companies on automated testing projects in an industrial setting. Tanja is the project lead for TESTAR.org, an open-source project that aims to create an intelligent tool for automated testing at the Graphical User Interface level.