In May 2013, the first-ever, tri-campus TEDx event was held at the George Ignatieff Theatre. Organizers shared their visions for the future, expressing their hopes that captivating ideas would continue to be shared through independently organized TEDxUofT events. Executive members also looked forward to welcoming  “undergraduate students who have an awesome story to tell” as speakers.

The second tri-campus TEDxUofT event, which took place on March 1, 2014 at the Isabel Bader Theatre, gave the audience the opportunity to journey with innovators in the fields of climate modeling, medical research, and electromagnetic cloaking, to name only a few.

Steve Easterbrook, a former lead NASA scientist and current professor in the Department of Computer Science, spoke about climate modeling as a method of gathering information about the past and wisdom for the future. In an interview with The Varsity, Easterbrook spoke about the importance of changing the dialogue around climate change. “It really is, and to my mind there’s another problem that we have to solve along the way, and maybe it’s even a more important problem, which is getting the money out of politics,” he said. “If you ask me what’s the most important thing we can do about climate change, it’s electoral reform; it’s cutting down the amount that lobby organizations can pay politicians to buy their votes. If we can do that, then at least we’ve cleared the space to have honest conversations with politicians about the science and its implications.”

Cliffton van der Linden, a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, also addressed issues at the intersection of science and human society. Van der Linden claimed that it is a privilege to live in a society in which it is possible to be resigned and complacent about politics, but he still hopes to combat voter apathy. He developed Vote Compass, a rhetoric-free interface that allows citizens to quickly learn which parties they are most closely aligned with.

U of T student researcher Jessie MacAlpine  stressed the importance of youth activism in contemporary society, specifically focusing on the sciences. She attributes the majority of her success in scientific research, including her work on a cost-effective treatment for malaria, to early involvement in youth science fairs and national youth science initiatives. Jessie’s talk revolutionized the audience’s views regarding science fairs.  No longer will listeners think of the archetypal baking soda volcano and potato-powered lightbulb; today’s fairs consist of world-class innovative experiments, with realistic solutions to combat and resolve the issues facing our society.

Incorporating a popular childhood toy as a driving metaphor in her research, Dr. Alison McGuigan’s research takes a LEGO-inspired, modular approach to considering novel biomaterials and biomedical engineering techniques for drug research. This method promises potential new pathways for drug development, with hopes of decreasing the length of the currently 12-year-long process to convert a research discovery to an available product.

 Dr. Matt Ratto spends multiple hours in labs, working through the process of applying 3D printing to missing limb rehabilitation; he also focuses on the impact of this technology to ameliorate the lives of those in less developed countries.

Ratto believes the current system of artificial limb acquisition is both overly lengthy and uncomfortable; he therefore seeks to diminish the negative impact of this process on the lives of those who must undergo it.  With the creation of durable, comfortable, and practical artificial limb segments, Ratto hopes to ameliorate the current process of rehabilitation.  This is only a part of his goal for the “democratization of technology” and work in investigating the crucial interplay between technology and society.

Among the other talks were a description of metamaterials by professor George Eleftheriades of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as a speech by award-winning U of T engineers Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson, who developed the first human-powered aircraft that could sustain flight. These and other talks, as well as the musical performances that served as well-placed counterpoints to the academic content of the conference, left participants with an appreciation of new fields, and a spirit of inquiry that extended far past the final talk.

Check back with The Varsity for the talks from Saturday’s event, which will be posted online at a later date. With files from Augusta Jones.