In honor of its 25^th anniversary at Fairfield University, the School of Engineering hosted TEDxFairfieldUniversity on October 28, 2019. The theme of the event, “Innovation and Inspiration,” reflected the many ways in which the engineering program at Fairfield has adapted to the changing world, continually finding new ways to provide transformative educational experiences for our students, and challenging them to live inspired lives in service to humanity.

Meet the nine speakers who presented live at TEDxFairfieldUniversity, including a current student, an alumna, an honorary degree recipient, and a faculty member, as well as leaders in health care, education, business, and technology:

• Dr. Stephen F. Badylak, Deputy Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, asserts that research is not a sprint – it’s a marathon… and the next big breakthrough often comes right after a setback, in his talk, "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back." 

• David C. Banks, President and CEO of The Eagle Academy Foundation, Inc., shares his visionary approach to the education of young men of color in his talk, "Taking Flight: Empowering Young Men of Color to Soar Above Adversity."

• Cindi Bigelow, H’16, is the third-generation president and CEO of Bigelow Tea, headquartered in Fairfield, Conn. Her predecessor and role model had a front row seat for her TEDx talk, “Lessons Learned From My Father.”

• Dr. Donna Coletti, Scholar-in-Residence at the Egan School’s Kanarek Center for Palliative Care, revealed the personal side of her public health career in “The Longest Journey: How Palliative Medicine Changed a Surgical Mind and Heart.”

• Lilliana Delmonico ’20 is a bioengineering major in the School of Engineering and co-founder of the Biomedical Engineering Society at Fairfield University. Her talk, "What Drives Your Future?" offers a new twist to the age-old question, "What do you want to be?"

• Dr. T. Sloane Guy, professor of surgery and director of Minimally Invasive & Robotic Cardiac Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, draws on his experience as a trauma surgeon in Afghanistan and Iraq for his talk, "Innovation Inspired by Adversity – Robotic Surgery's Third Wave."

• Aidan Kehoe, Founder and CEO of Skout Cybersecurity, has seen it all in his seven years of delivering the highest level of cybersecurity technology and service. His talk will reassure anyone with an online presence that “Feeling Safe in Scary Times” is possible.

• Dawne Ware ’89, CEO of Ware Consulting LLC, brings 20+ years of experience forming, building, and leading companies in the property casualty and reinsurance industries – and a healthy dose of #jesuiteducated – to her TEDx talk, “Ethics: Yes, Even When Nobody is Watching.”

• Mark Unger, author of First Survivor, and owner and director of Unger Global Companies, honors those who gave him the strength to confront – and reject – the diagnosis of “zero chance of survival” when his son was diagnosed with childhood cancer, in his talk "First Survivor."

Peter Van Heerden, executive director of Fairfield’s Quick Center for the Arts, emceed the afternoon event, which also featured two recorded presentations: one by author, entrepreneur, and podcaster Tim Ferriss, and the other by former US Army 1^st Lt. and 2016 Paralympic Bronze Medalist, Melissa Stockwell.

What is TEDx?
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxFairfieldUniversity where x=independently organized TED event. At our TEDxFairfieldUniversity event, TED Talks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.