TEDxPittsburgh 2019
Greater Than

Hear how baking and activism combine to tell untold stories of Asian American history through a medium that almost always attracts attention: cookies. In the process, baker and humanitarian Jasmine Cho shares her personal journey and stories that belong in the history books (and on cookies). Jasmine Cho is the Founder of Yummyholic, an online bakery specializing in custom cookies and cupcakes that taste as amazing as they look. Jasmine was recognized as a 2017 Creator of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council and Creative Industries Network, a Who’s Next under 40 in Food Honoree by The Incline, and a Women & Business Honoree by Pittsburgh Magazine. Yummyholic partners with Beverly’s Birthdays and The Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh and has donated nearly 4,000 treats to these and other organizations since its inception in the fall of 2015. In addition to integrating charitable giving into her business, Jasmine uses her artful baked goods to spark conversations around creativity and cultural awareness around Asian American history and identity. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Decades have passed since humanity landed on the moon. What if the moon has untapped value to Earth? Through mineable resources and through a safe home base to setup deep space exploration by humans? Space entrepreneur John Thornton thinks these ideas are very real and his lunar lander technology tis poised to help take humanity back to the moon. John Thornton has grown Astrobotic's business of delivering affordable space robotics technology and planetary missions by attracting technology contracts, equity investment, and payload customers. Thornton is coordinating the team and alliance for Peregrine's development and the first mission. At Carnegie Mellon, Thornton led the build of Scarab, a NASA concept robot for lunar drilling, and the first robot to carry a prototype of NASA's RESOLVE payload. He founded Carnegie Mellon's Advanced Composites Lab, a research, training, design, and manufacturing lab specializing in high performance, lightweight composites for robotics. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Usage trends from the world's leading free mobile app for language education (Duolingo) revealed an unlikely insight that needed to be investigated. Traveling the world to meet users revealed to designer Jack Morgan and his team that that in many cases, learning a language wasn't a hobby, it was an opportunity for a better life. Jack Morgan is a British designer based in the United States. Formerly the Lead Designer for Google’s education division, he designed the Google Academy London—a purpose-built facility dedicated to community education and helping people improve their tech skills. Recently, he produced an acclaimed documentary about Syrian refugees watched by more than 1 million people and endorsed by the United Nations. He is currently designing an adaptive AI testing platform that helps thousands of foreign students get access to a college education. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Wireless researcher Swarun Kumar shares his ideas on how a low cost device can enable a more highly connected world. Securely expanding the internet of things can mean expanding our knowledge of city infrastructure, personal health and much more. Swarun Kumar is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University where he heads the laboratory for emerging wireless technologies (WiTech lab). He designs and builds systems for faster wireless networks and novel mobile applications. Swarun is a recipient of the Google Faculty Research award, the President of India gold medal at IIT Madras and the best Ph.D thesis award in Computer Science at MIT. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

After surviving an acid attack, Hanifa Nakiryowa chose to reclaim her identity by unveiling her scars. In doing so she unveils awareness about this growing form of violence and shares hope and empowerment for victims. Hanifa Nakiryowa is the Global Health Associate at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation working to advance the goals of JHF’s Women’s Health Activist Movement (WHAMglobal) by applying her internationally-recognized leadership and advocacy skills. Prior to joining JHF, Hanifa served as special projects intern for the Pittsburgh Foundation during her final year as a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a recent H.J. Heinz fellow and a second career graduate with a Master of International Development and Human Security Studies from the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate school of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). Prior to attending GSPIA, Hanifa completed a Master’s degree in Economics at the University of Nairobi, and a Global Change Leader’s Certificate from COADY International Institute in Canada. She has worked as a Monitoring and Evaluating Specialist for the UNICEF-FBO partnership promoting maternal and child health, women’s and children’s rights and girl’s education Uganda. Hanifa’s work focuses on addressing gender-related challenges facing women and children in institutionally oppressive societies. She founded The Center for Rehabilitation of Survivors of Acid and burns Violence (CERESAV), an NGO in Uganda after surviving an acid attack in 2011, to provide lifesaving medical and nutrition support to victims in the hospital, to raise awareness of the problem, to advocate for inclusion and minority rights and to promote socioeconomic sustainability among burn violence survivors. Hanifa’s work has earned her several awards, including the 2013 Kampala West-Rotary International Vocational Service Award for her work empowering acid attack survivors in Uganda: the Iris Marion Young Award for her political engagement and social justice advocacy, which has changed the face of acid attack violence in Uganda; the Sergeant James “Rip” Taylor Award for her public service; and H.J. Heinz Fellowship for her proven leadership potential. She is a proud mother of two daughters who challenge her on rollercoasters, trampolines and zip lines when she is not at work. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Can you draw? After learning both the basics and the big picture in this talk, your answer will likely be yes. As a Co-Founder and CEO of LUMA Institute, Chris leads a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team of practitioners located around the world who are passionate about preparing and equipping organizations to be more innovative. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of design and innovation in the US, Europe, and Asia and is co-author of the book “Innovating for People.” Prior to LUMA Institute, Chris co-founded BodyMedia, Inc., one of the pioneers in wearable health monitoring, and headed up their experience design and customer marketing groups. BodyMedia was acquired by Jawbone in 2013. Chris’s work has been cited in numerous national and international publications including Business Week, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, and Fast Company as well as several popular books about design and innovation including “In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World” and “The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products.” Chris also served as an assistant professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1990's and was a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School from 2012 to 2016. He holds several IDEA Gold Medal Awards sponsored by Business Week and the Industrial Designers Society of America and has been awarded numerous US and EU patents for his work. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

The horrors of human trafficking are widespread across the world. Big problems require top technology and ingenuity, that's where the idea of creating Artificial Intelligence powered software for law enforcement comes in. Technologist and founder Emily Kennedy's idea for fighting the spread of human trafficking centers on the heart of the mission and the technology created to find and rescue victims while bringing criminals to justice. Emily Kennedy is a startup founder, human trafficking subject matter expert, Forbes 30 Under 30, a Mother of Invention, keynote speaker, and activist. She has been developing technology solutions to human trafficking since 2011 at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute. Her company Marinus Analytics uses the latest advancements in AI to turn big data into actionable intelligence for sex trafficking investigations. As President and Co-Founder of Marinus Analytics, she leads development and deployment of these tools to law enforcement across the globe for use on criminal cases, with an emphasis on sex trafficking investigations. She routinely works alongside, advises, and teaches stakeholders—such as attorneys general, prosecutors, law enforcement agents, and non-profit victim services organizations—on micro and macro approaches to combating and measuring human trafficking in the United States and abroad. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Courtney Williamson was not a medical device entrepreneur. Until she was. While her formal PHD training was in an entirely different field, she realized that her lived experience in being a caretaker to her mother who had Parkinson's disease, gave her knowledge to draw from and led to an invention that is helping thousands of patients. Courtney Williamson, Ph.D. is a Baltimore native and has called Pittsburgh home for 10 years. She obtained her doctoral degree in Organizational Behavior from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. Courtney launched AbiliLife, a medical device business, upon completing her doctoral studies where she designs products to reduce falls and improve quality of life for elderly and neuromuscular patients. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

From experiencing homelessness to becoming an Emmy Award Winner. Filmmaker Emmai Alaquiva sits down for an interview conducted by acclaimed author Damon Young to discuss how art saved his life and has been a positive force for his family. Alaquiva and Young get into specifics about cinematic influences and how that affects how he approaches every shoot. Emmai Alaquiva, an Emmy Award-winning film director, photographer, and composer, skillfully showcases soulful accounts of humanity across multidisciplinary art platforms. Once homeless, Alaquiva shifted the trajectory of his life's path to become one of the most distinct trailblazers in the arena of creative arts. Today, he is a Fox Rothchild’s “Top CEO” of Ya Momz House, Inc, a digital multimedia agency, co-founder of Hip-Hop On L.O.C.K., an arts education program for youth K-12, and curator of the interactive photography exhibit, OpticVoices. Alaquiva’s enraptured work can be seen internationally on the PBS, BBC, NBC, and CBS networks. This 8-Time Telly Award-winner now serves on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts under Governor Tom Wolf, honored as Black Enterprise Magazine’s “BE Modern Man of Distinction” and is a national BMe Community Leader recognized by President Barack Obama. The Sky is NOT the limit. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Polarizing issues can lead many of us to focus on headlines and outcomes. But what does the law actually say about the powers of the President, State and Local governments when it comes to taking land for government use for something like a border wall. Constitutional law and property law scholar Jerry Dickinson shares the facts. Professor Dickinson's teaching and scholarship focus on property, constitutional law, state and local government law, and affordable housing law and policy. His scholarship has featured in numerous law reviews, and he writes and comments frequently in local and national media outlets, including several editorials in the Washington Post and The Hill. Professor Dickinson has also offered testimony to the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee regarding land acquisition issues along the US-Mexico border. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx