TEDxPenn to feature former Peru President and Penn professor, Nobel Prize laureate Drew Weissman

TEDxPenn will host its annual conference with the theme “Limits to Infinity" on April 6, featuring ten speakers from across artistic, scientific, business, and political disciplines. 

The conference, which will take place at 10 a.m. at Irvine Auditorium, explores how those of different backgrounds navigate limits to unlock an infinite number of possibilities. This year’s speakers include former President of Peru Francisco Sagasti, Nobel Prize laureate Drew Weissman, and Deaf performer Justine Miles.

Engineering senior and TEDxPenn curator Tarunyaa Sivakumar described the theme selection process, which involves approximately thirty students engaging in multiple brainstorming sessions and suggesting potential themes.

“This theme is about exploring the limits that exist in our world, and the questions [the theme] poses is, 'Do these limits truly exist and can limits be perceived in a positive way?'” Sivakumar said. “In a way, limits might actually make humans innovate more … and that’s where our speakers are interpreting this in an optimistic way”.

Penn psychology professor Angela Duckworth will provide the event's opening remarks. Other speakers include founder and CEO of The Newsette Media Group Daniella Pierson, multidisciplinary designer Nicole McLaughlin, and linguist Adam Aleksic, who makes educational videos under the name "The Etymology Nerd." In addition to Weissman, the conference will feature two other Penn affiliates: H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor in the School of Engineering Nader Engheta and Program Coordinator of Technology and Play Tex Kang. NASA astronaut Victor Glover will deliver a talk via pre-recorded video. 

TEDxPenn, founded by students in 2010, aims to create positive change and inspire powerful ideas within Penn and the greater Philadelphia community with its events. The group spends the entirety of the fall semester searching for its speakers, who are typically related either to Penn or local to Philadelphia and represent a diverse set of specialties. The organization takes both self-nominations and nominations from others, with nominees then auditioning for the speaker lineup. 

In addition to the conference, TEDxPenn will be hosting a discussion and luncheon with Sagasti at the Perry World House on April 5. 

Engineering sophomore and curator Clarice Wang said that TEDxPenn wants students to feel that they have the opportunity to connect with speakers beyond simply their conference talks. She added that TEDxPenn emails what they call “moonshots,” who are well-known speakers that they would like to return to Penn to give a TED talk. 

Wang also shared how the organization hopes that students and staff will react to the theme.  

“We hope [the audience] can think about how they can push the boundaries of the limits they are imposing on themselves or others,” she said. “We want them to think about how they can improve themselves, the world, or make changes that can progress beyond what we’ve already defined as limits." 

For the first time, the conference will be fully accessible to the deaf community. Wang said this change is partly inspired by Miles — the first deaf woman to perform ASL for the Super Bowl halftime show — who will be speaking at the conference. TEDxPenn has hired interpreters to sign other speakers’ talks for members of the deaf community attending the conference. 

“This is a really pivotal moment for us and we hope to inspire other organizations and departments here at Penn to consider accessibility at the forefront rather than an afterthought,” Wang said.

After seeing an exponential rise in attendees and engagement at their conferences, TEDxPenn expanded its outreach this past year by establishing the high school ambassadors program. College sophomore and co-director of marketing Avia Weber described how the program allows high school students to engage in professional development sessions to improve their communication skills.

“We have over ten high school ambassadors coming from different schools in the Greater Philadelphia community, and they have been taking part in professional development sessions led by Penn students for their communication skills,” Weber said.

Weber added that these ambassadors will contribute to the conference by creating exhibit posters to display information about the speakers’ lives.

College sophomore and co-director of speaker and content Steven Su explained how his desire to be involved in an organization that was not pre-professional led him to join TEDxPenn. 

“It’s about this idea of providing a service to something that is bigger than yourself,” he said. “I think everyone should be involved in something like [TEDxPenn] where they don’t just do something for their own sake, but they contribute to a bigger force.”