2016: Transformations
Our 2016 theme: Transformations. Movement and change. Conversion and shift. Our 17 presenters and two guest artists explored that. Our goal: to infuse our audiences with the wonders of metamorphosis. Check out our photos from the event.
Speakers
Select a speaker below to learn more about them and view their talk.
Andre Feriante
Andre Feriante
Flamenco Guitarist, Poet
Andre's career path was set at 13, when he first heard the flamenco guitar. He mastered the art and has blended it with classical and Brazilian styles. He has studied with Andres Segovia in Madrid, given a private performance at Carnegie Hall, and performed the National Anthem at a Seattle Sounders game. This concert performer has also released 14 albums. Andre is artistic director of Leavenworth's Guitar Euphoria Festival.
The Power of Music to Heal, Transform and Inspire
Andrew Ballard
Andrew Ballard
Growth Strategist
Andrew loves helping clients understand why listening to the voice of the customer is just as important as delivering great goods, products or services. He and his wife, Sandra Ballard, launched Marketing Solutions, a research-based growth strategies company, in 1997 and have clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Andrew is author of "Your Opinion Doesn't Matter."
The Formula for Breakthrough Growth
Betty Smith
Betty Smith
Aerospace Engineer, Advocate
Betty is a lifelong learner with an insatiable curiosity for the sciences and neurosciences. Now a senior systems engineer in aerospace for Boeing, Betty has 38 years of management and leadership in a range of projects, including weapons design and ways to improve soldier survival on the battlefield.
What do Dark Matter & Women Have in Common? More than you Know
Darcy Ottey
Darcy Ottey
Bridge-builder, Gift-unleasher
Darcy spent her college years studying anthropology and sociology to develop an understanding of culture and social change theory. She has dedicated her life to helping young people open the door to deeper self-discovery and claim their gifts, skills and strengths. Darcy was executive director of Journeys, an organization based in suburban Seattle, and more recently helped struggling Hawaiian teens through a gardening-based therapeutic program.
Tying the Threads of the Past to the Future
Dawn Shaw
Dawn Shaw
Author, Speaker
Dawn is a public speaker and the author of a memoir, a web series and a blog in which she shares her unique experiences with adversity and advice on overcoming it. Her latest book is "Facial Shift." Dawn knows all about Icelandic horses, having spent years breeding, training and selling the beautiful animals. She owns Lone Cedar Icelandic Horses in Grapeview, Wash.
Beauty Is an Inside Job
Ed Castro
Ed Castro
Musician, Educator
Ed often heard the phrase "innovation through imitation" as a young musician, and the concept has defined his career. A founding member of the Mosaic Brass Quintet, he is both a freelance musician and a teacher at Soundview School. Ed is also a lecturer and affiliated artist at Pacific Lutheran University, where he performs with the Lyric Brass Quintet.
Getting Past Our Walls: Finding Innovation Through Imitation
Ivette Bayo Urban
Ivette Bayo Urban
Doctoral Candidate, Educator
Ivette is interested in how we teach with, and about, technology —especially as it relates to information equity, interdisciplinary learning, diversity and inclusion. She advocates for the role libraries play in supporting literacy and providing access to information for all. A doctoral candidate at the University of Washington, Ivette is a former middle school teacher from Miami.
We Are Our Stories: Is Technology Rewriting Our Values?
Jeff Lynass
Jeff Lynass
Adviser, Educator
Jeff excels at helping kids to reach their potential and find their passion for learning. He has taught and coached children from middle to senior high school for 21 years at Lake Stevens School District. He advises two robotics clubs and has been an event partner for the Western Washington State VEX Robotics competition for three years.
Robotic Competition, The Genius is in the Game
Karla Hawley
Karla Hawley
Music Therapist, Overcomer
Karla seeks solitude in wilderness and playfulness in people's smiles. She uses music therapy to build communities within assisted living and memory care facilities, and to treat people who have suffered from trauma. Karla directs music therapy services for the Snohomish County Music Project, working with families and intimate community circles of youth who are at risk, in legal trouble or on the streets.
Trauma and Music Therapy: Let the Healing Begin
Kevin Bowcutt
Kevin Bowcutt
Hypersonics Scientist
Kevin has been on the leading edge of aerospace science for the last three decades, whether leading classes of advanced engineering students or scientists. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and member of the National Academy of Engineering. Highlights of his 30-year career include leading the team that designed reusable space launch vehicles with the National Aerospace Plane program and investigating the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Kevin is now at Boeing Research & Technology.
Routine Hypersonic Flight: The Final Frontier of AeronauticsE
Matt Poischbeg
Matt Poischbeg
Mixed Martial Arts Fighter, VP
Matt believes that much of his success in life stems from life and technical skills acquired as an at-risk teenager in Germany. When he came to the Pacific Northwest as a young man, he parlayed those skills to move up from his mail room internship at Sea-Dog Corporation and now serves as vice president and general manager for sister company Sea-Lect Plastics.
Apprenticeship Career Paths Are Critical for Young People
Rachel Maxwell
Rachel Maxwell
CEO, Adviser, Value-creator
Rachel's driving motivation is to put some love into finance. She co-founded Community Sourced Capital, which Entrepreneur Magazine listed among its Brilliant 100 companies to watch in 2015. Prior to cofounding the company, Rachel was Deputy Director of Renewable Energy & International Law, an organization bringing together select international leaders to create clean energy and climate policy solutions.
Creating Value Together
Radhika Dalal
Radhika Dalal
Student, TEDxYouth organizer
Radhika is a senior at Kamiak High School. As a first-generation American, she takes pride in her Indian heritage. She is an intern at the Institute for Systems Biology and aims to pursue a career in science. Radhika is also a licensee for TEDxYouth@KHS, an upcoming school event that will focus on Kairos, or "topics of the age."
How Technology is Changing the Dream
Rilee Louangphakdy
Rilee Louangphakdy
College student, storyteller
Rilee is committed to helping and motivating others to emerge from their teen years transformed by their experiences. He has shared his stories of personal loss and gain in a commencement speech, at the 2015 YMCA Minority Achievers Program banquet, and to students at the Marysville Getchell High School International School of Communications. Rilee is a Marysville Getchell 2015 graduate and Everett Community College sophomore.
Sonder: Discovering Vivid Stories Around Us
Robert Hoyt
Robert Hoyt
Aerospace Technologist, CEO
Rob loves overcoming the big technical hurdles that we face on our way to becoming a spacefaring civilization. He co-founded Tethers Unlimited Inc. in 1994, and built it into a research and development firm for space and defense. He is now building a spin-off, Firmamentum, to commercialize in-space manufacturing. Rob has won more grants from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program than any other researcher.
The Future of Space: Off-World Manufacturing
Seconde Nimenya
Seconde Nimenya
Author, Diversity Leader
Seconde travels the world sharing a message of tolerance and peace, working to bridge the gaps between multicultural communities, and urging others to use the adversity in life to become better people. She advocates for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and education system. Seconde is author of "Evolving Through Adversity." Her second book, "A Hand To Hold," is a novel of love and redemption.
We Are Not All That Different: Race and Culture Identity
Sriharshita "Harshu" Musunuri
Sriharshita "Harshu" Musunuri
Student, Inventor, Scientist
Harshu conducts research in thermoelectrics and has earned national recognition for her studies and invention. She was an intern at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is curriculum director of the non-profit Girls Rock in Science and Math. She is a 2016 Davidson Fellow Laureate, junior at Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek, and student researcher in a University of Washington chemical engineering lab.
Channeling Your Inner Renaissance
John Aitchison
John Aitchison
Professor, Chief Scientific Officer
The power of collaborative research and interdisciplinary research can transform the way science explores biological systems in their entirety to predict new behaviors and outcomes.
John Aitchison, Ph.D., is a professor at the Institute for Systems Biology and a professor and chief scientific officer for the Center for Infectious Disease Research.
A Transformation of Science?
TEDxSnoIsleLibraries Salon
Think of it as a taste of TEDx. On May 10, Edmonds Community College, Sno-Isle Libraries, Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation, and The Daily Herald served up "Shift Happens: Creating New Futures." The event was held at Black Box Theatre in Mukilteo Hall at Edmonds CC, 20000 68th Ave. W, Lynnwood. It was free and open to the public.
The program was a TEDx Salon event, an extension of TEDxSnoIsleLibraries 2016.
"TEDx Salons are bite-sized TEDx events" said Ken Harvey, TEDxSnoIsleLibraries organizer and communications director for the library district. "The audience and speakers can have a closer interaction. Attendees are invited to discuss speakers' ideas and experience a cohesive community of thinkers."
Art
The Snohomish County Arts Commission partnered with Sno-Isle Libraries by selecting and commissioning artists to develop interactive artwork for TEDxSnoIsleLibraries.
In 2016, the centerpiece of the TEDxSnoIsleLibraries IdeaLab in 2016 was "Flower Tower," an interactive artwork by Mona T. Smiley-Fairbanks of Edmonds.
The tower of metal and light honors the event theme, Transformation, as participants move crystals and prisms to change the artwork's appearance.
"We never seem to tire at the awe of a rainbow or marvel at the cast of our own shadow," says Mona. "‘Flower Tower' allows people to insert their own imagination into the color, shading, and cast of the piece." Mona developed the sculpture to have minimum waste. The steel flowers are repurposed from a previous installation and the colored rods will be reused.
Mona is a Northwest native making monotype prints, acrylic canvases, and most anything that can pose an artistic challenge. Inspired by Puget Sound, the rushing waters and the fragrant Douglas firs, her work reflects patterns, colors and endangered species.
Partners
Organizations that partner with TEDxSnoIsleLibraries help transform communities and the marketplace through the power of ideas.
Their contributions cover the cost of staging a world-class event, allowing us to offer free admission. Please let these organizations know you appreciate their support of TEDxSnoIsleLibraries.
Fiscal agent and founding partner
