The 11th edition of TEDxGateway, to be held in Mumbai on February 23 at Dome at NSCI, will see an interesting lineup of speakers from various walks of life, including Grammy Award-Winning Jazz Band Lili Haydn & Opium Moon, Environmentalist and former Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui and Child Prodigy, Scientist and Inventor Rishabh Jain. With such an interesting line-up, attending this conference should be on your to-do list for this weekend. Here are 10 speakers we can't wait to listen to at this event:
1. Hajer Sharief
Twenty-five-year-old activist Hajer Sharief works towards human rights, gender equality and political participation in Libya and beyond. Co-founder of Together We Build It foundation, Sharief, who has closely witnessed bombings during the 2011 Libyan civil war, promotes participation of women and youth in peacebuilding efforts in Libya.
In 2016, Sharief was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General as member in the advisory committee for the progress study on youth peace and security mandated by the Security Council resolution 2250. Moreover, she has been selected by Kofi Annan to take part in the Extremely Together initiative on Countering Violent Extremism.
2. Gangadhar Patil
Founder of 101 Reporters, Gangadhar Patil runs a growing network of thousands of rural reporters in India, which sources original stories from these local reporters for national and international media. His four years old media tech startup has produced more than 3,500 ground reported stories. The platform also helps freelance journalists to connect with publishers who would be interested in their work. In the process, they not only recognise the tireless work that India’s grassroots reporters are doing in tough terrains, but also earn an extra bit for a better living.
3. Rishabh Jain
A child prodigy, Rishab Jain is a 15-year-old scientist and inventor who has developed a Pancreatic Cancer Deep Learning System, an artificial intelligence tool that improves radiation treatment. He has also invented The Pancreas Detective, an invention improving the diagnosis of gene mutations used in precision medicine.
He created an algorithm that uses artificial intelligence to accurately locate and track the pancreas in real-time during MRI-guided radiotherapy. He developed and tested his algorithm using images of the human digestive system, and found it could correctly detect the pancreas with a 98.9 per cent success rate. The innovation aims to improve accuracy, reduce evasiveness and increase efficiency during treatment, resulting in a better quality of life and chance for survival among patients.
Presently in high school, Rishab aspires to become a surgeon and hopes to cure pancreatic cancer one day.
4. Karen Hao
An artificial intelligence reporter at MIT Technology Review, Karen Hao demystifies the field’s latest news and research, and examines the sticky ethical issues and social impacts of the technology. She frequently speaks about her reporting around the world and also writes a weekly newsletter called The Algorithm, which was named one of the best newsletters on the internet in 2018 by The Webby Awards.
Prior to MIT Technology Review, she worked in the editorial and product team at Quartz as a tech reporter and its first data scientist. Prior to journalism, she was an application engineer at the first startup to spin out of Google X.
5. Danish Siddiqui
Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui heads Reuters’ pictures team in India. As a journalist, Danish has covered several important stories in South Asia, Middle East and Europe, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Rohingya refugees crisis, Nepal earthquake and living conditions of asylum seekers in Switzerland. He has also produced a photo series on Muslim converts in England.
6. Shneel Malik
Working at the intersection of design, biology, engineering and material sciences, Delhi-based architect and bio-design researcher Shneel Malik investigates the fabrication of large-scale photosynthetic systems for applications within architecture. As part of her research, she has developed Indus – a wall designed to clean polluted water using the natural processes of micro-organisms, specifically microalgae. Developed in close collaboration between the Departments of Architecture and Biochemical Engineering at UCL, the system is designed to empower small-scale artisan communities to adapt futuristic solutions of treating polluted water by themselves, through cultural techniques readily available to them.
7. Bruce Friedrich
Co-founder and executive director of The Good Food Institute, an organisation that is fostering food innovation and creating sustainable alternatives to meat consumption, Bruce Friedrich wants to transform the meat industry by developing substitutes to traditional meat that taste the same but cost less.
8. Lili Haydn & Opium Moon
A Grammy award-winning film composer, Lili has released five critically acclaimed recordings as a solo artist. Her band, Opium Moon is a collaboration of musicians including Lili Haydn (vocalist and violinist), Hamid Saeidi (Santoor player), MB Gordy (percussionist) and Itai Disraeli (bass artist). The team hails from Israel, Iran, and the USA. The band’s cinematic soundscapes draw upon the diverse ethnic backgrounds of its members and aim to promote global unity and peace through their music
Opium Moon’s 2018 Grammy Award-winning self-titled debut album was critically acclaimed, and their forthcoming album Opium Moon: Day and Night will be released Summer of 2020.
9. Jigyasa Labroo
Founder of Slam Out Loud, Jigyasa Labroo uses performance and visual arts to enable children from disadvantaged communities to find their voice through creative expression.
She works with professional artists and e-learning resources to help children build the creative confidence needed for them to dream bigger and create their future. Partnering with the Government and communities, she has worked with more than 6500 children and 100 artists so far in India.
10. Yuval Mor
As the CEO of Ummanu Health, Yuval has worked at the intersection of developing and integrating artificial intelligence in healthcare. His unique technique of using vocal biomarkers to detect coronary artery diseases is a glimpse of the future of healthcare.
When: Feb 23, Sunday, 10 am to 6:30 pm
Where: Dome, NSCI, Worli, Mumbai
Price: Rs. 1200 onwards
Tickets available on Paytm Insider