News

2018 Speaker and Performer Line-Up

TEDxSydney 2018 · 15 June 2018

Our theme this year is: HumanKind. Our incredible group of speakers and performers will inspire you with a day of talks, performances, films and debate focused around this theme.

2018 Speakers:

  • Anjali JaiprakashWould you trust a robot to cut you open? Jaiprakash works at the intersection of medicine, engineering and design and was announced as one of the world’s ’25 Women in Robotics You Should Know About’ in 2017. Her vision is to create a world in which robotics technology enables affordable medicine for everyone and is committed to connecting scientific disciplines and the medical industry to achieve this.
  • Bronnie Mackintosh – Bronnie is a Training Officer at Fire & Rescue NSW. She has travelled the world to research how international fire agencies are changing their workforces to be more reflective of the diverse communities they protect.
  • Bruce Pascoe – Pascoe is a prolific indigenous writer, editor and anthologist who lives deep in the Victorian Bush where he finds solace and inspiration.
  • Chyloe Kurdas – Kurdas is a pioneer in women’s AFL and has spent the past decade building the catalyst for Australia’s first ever national women’s professional competition, AFLW.   
  • David Capra – Capra collaborates with his dachshund, Teena, to create entertaining and thoughtful performance art. Teena is quite the publicity hound; in 2016 she even launched her own fragrance. His artistic work features on his relationship with Teena.
  • Eddie Woo – Can maths really be made enjoyable for all people? Mathematics high school teacher, Woo, seems to think so. And with 200,000 YouTube subscribers and over 13 million video views, it seems a lot of people agree.
  • Fang ChenDr. Chen is Senior Principal Researcher, Data61 – CSIRO and a thought leader in AI and Human-Machine Interaction. She has also pioneered the theoretical framework of human behaviour understanding for building human-machine trust.
  • Ian Strange – Strange is an Australian multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. His work is mostly around large-scale installations which explore architecture, space and the home alongside broader themes of disenfranchisement within the urban environment.
  • Jahan Kalantar – Kalantar describes himself as the ‘little guy lawyer’. Standing up for those kept in mental health facilities involuntarily, refugees seeking asylum and individuals accused of heinous crimes.
  • James Bevington – Bevington is the Commander of the NASA-funded Mission 5 for HI-SEAS. He recently carried out an eight month simulated mission to Mars with five others on a barren, volcanic landscape.
  • Lucinda Beaman – In a world where truth is being lost, Beaman is on the front line as the FactCheck Editor at educational publication The Conversation.
  • Magda Szubanski – Szubanski is a celebrated actress, comedian, writer and LGBTQIA rights activist. She also happens to be the “Most Talked about Person of 2017”.
  • Miles Merrill – Merrill is a writer, performer and slam poet whose work touches on society, class and race. Hailing from Chicago, in some respects Merrill could be considered the Father of Slam Poetry in Australia.
  • Nicole Gurran: Nicole Gurran is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney. Her research examines affordable rental supply and the impacts of online holiday rental platforms for local communities.
  • Rod Bower –  Father Rod Bower is an unconventional Australian priest making headlines around the world. He speaks out on gun control, asylum seekers, recognition of First Peoples and is an advocate of marriage equality.
  • Suzie Sheehy – Sheehy is a respected scientist, public speaker and researcher who focuses on particle accelerators (like the Hadron Collider!) and their applications, ranging from medicine to energy.
  • Stephen ScheelerScheeler is a tech business veteran determined to make Australia a front-runner in the global tech race. He is an inspiring personality and a member of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Knowledge Nation 100, top innovation leaders in Australia.
  • Thomas Oxley – Oxley is a vascular neurologist, world expert in endovascular bionic and also the CEO of Synchron. The organisation is a neural interface technology company breaking ground in neurosurgery.  

2018 Performers:

  • Didirri – is a Melbourne singer-songwriter and has been one of the most exciting new talents emerging in the local music scene. His music is a sweet and delicate blend of powerful emotion and sombre folk which can be described to “melt the heart”.
  • Kaiit – Kaiit is a young songstress from South Melbourne and born in Papua New Guinea. She allures her audiences with her enchanting voice which crosses musical boundaries and is influenced by her love from jazz, neo-soul, alternative music and contemporary sounds.
  • Moorambilla Voices: Helps uncover artistic excellence in regional children and youth by giving country kids a rare opportunity to sing, dance and create incredible performances with artists of the highest calibre. At its core, Moorambilla Voices seeks inspiration from the region of NSW, its landscape, rich culture and inhabitants. Each year, 300 students attend a camp where they dance, sing, compose, paint, weave, play drums and learn about the cultural traditions and stories of their landscape.
  • Odette: Odette is a 20-year old Australian singer-songwriter and one of the global artists to watch in 2018. Her South African mother introduced her to African music, soul, funk and rhythm; while her English father, hailing from a long line of jazz pianists, introduced her to new wave, jazz and passed on his musical talents. Deeply personal and captivating in presence, she is one not to miss.
  • Solli Raphael – At just 13 years old, home-schooled Solli Raphael was crowned Australia’s ‘Slam Poetry King’ after his powerful performance of works on homelessness, refugees and evolution.
  • The Lumiphonic Creature Choir –  is Mark Bolotin of Synarcade’s current new multimedia invention where a group of musicians and audience members can play, trigger and interact live with a giant twelve-headed audio-visual instrument.
  • Tom Thum – Tom Thum is one of world’s best beat boxers. He performed at TEDxSydney five years ago and his video has become the most watched TEDx performance ever, with over 83 million views, and counting!