Theme: Predicting The Future

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Suzhou Cultural and Art Center
No.1 Guanfeng Road
Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215028
China

Aaajiao Xu

Aaajiao (XU Wenkai) was born in 1984 in Xi'an, and later moved to Shanghai, where he choses to live and work. Aaajiao is one of China's foremost media artists, bloggers and free culture developers. His work, in general, focuses on the use of data and its various forms of expression, and how to display the whole connotation through the process of transformation from reality to data, and vice versa. His most significant contribution to aesthetic new media in China is acting as an active communicator and forerunner to link the international and local trends in the usages of software in artistic practice.

André Brown

Professor Brown has had a close engagement with China since 2009. He used the Shanghai Expo, in 2010, where he coordinated the Urban Design Futures week, at the Liverpool pavilion, to help promote XJTLU activities and encourage support for its aim. Professor Brown’s research and teaching has focused on Innovative Technologies in Architecture and related fields. He has published books “Urban Design Futures” and “Work of Peter Rice”, plus over 100 papers in the field. He has won international awards for his research related work; including the Sassada award and ACADIA award. Professor Brown was President of the European Organisation for research and education in the field of digital architecture, eCAADe (Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe) , for a period of 4 years and he is Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Architectural Computing which has become a key journal in the field.

Brian Tam

Brian is a Creativity Catalyst and co-founder of an innovation consultancy, Let’s Make GREAT! Born in America and having graduated from the University of Maryland, Brian saw China's dynamic growth and decided to make a leap back to the mainland. In 2007, he came to Shanghai to create more growth and innovation in China.

Jason Inch

Jason Inch has lived in China for more than ten years. He has written two books about China's economy and business environment, including China’s Economic Supertrends. He is also the founder of LOHAUS, a Shanghai-based social enterprise. LOHAUS is Shanghai's Loft of Health and Urban Sustainability. It is dedicated to promoting individual action and use of energy-saving technology to reduce pollution and make city living healthier and sustainable.

Jie Zheng

Jie Zheng, who got EMBA from Qinghua University, is not only the CEO of Shulan Health, but also the Deputy Director of Health Management Research Centre of Institute of Medical-care Information Technology(IMIT), and the Deputy Director of Personalized Medicine Centre of Zhejiang-California International NanoSystems Institutethe. As the author of recommended preface for “The Creative Destruction of Medicine”, the Founder of OMAHA (Opening Medicine And Heathcare Alliance), he, currently, devotes his life into life sciences research and investigation, open data event in medical and health products, and creative private medicine group establishment.

Kenn Ross

Kenn Ross is a graduate of Middlebury College, the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, and Harvard Business School. Originally from the United States, Kenn has lived in China for nearly 20 years and is fluent in Mandarin. Prior to Mineva, Kenn founded Kenn InLight Education, a platform providing non-cognitive skills-based and experiential education in China and also the International Foundation for the Promotion of Academic Soft Skills (IFPASS), a US-based nonprofit. Kenn’s career has spanned leadership roles in Fortune 30 multinational companies in the clean energy, technology, and consulting industries as well as founding several companies in education. Kenn Ross is currently Managing Director, Asia for the Minerva Project, a reinvented university experience for the world’s most motivated students. In this role, Kenn oversees all of Minerva's activities in the region.

Liming Wang

Louise Wang has served as General Counsel to the China BenQ & AUO Group since 1998. She is also the Director of BenQ Medical Center and the CEO of BenQ Foundation.
Prior to joining BenQ, Ms. Wang was a lawyer in private practice, focusing on commercial litigation and arbitration. She was awarded LL.B. and LL.M. degrees by the East China University of Politics and Law in Shanghai, and a PhD. in IPR History by Soochow University. She was also a visiting scholar at the Franklin Pierce Law Center, and at Harvard Law School

Matt Wang

Dr. Wang began his career with IBM in 1988 in U.S. Since then he has held a series of leadership positions in IBM, which were, Chief Architect in charge of Global Supply Chain for IBM Personal System Group, Vice President of Technical Sales and Service for IBM Software Group Asia Pacific, etc. In 2008, he took his current position as the Vice President of IBM as well as the GM of China Development Laboratories (CDL). Dr. Wang has made outstanding contributions to IBM and even the IT industry on the development of technology and the innovation of business model. He was responsible for Technical Team studies on several strategic corporate directions and led an Innovation Frontiers task force for National Innovation Initiative sponsored by the U.S. President. Besides being a guest professor at several of China`s top universities such as Tsinghua University, Zhejiang Universities and so on.

Peigen Xu

Peigen Xu was born and grew up in Suzhou, which was known as the hometown of carving. Currently he has served as the Art Director in Si Hai Yi Jia Carving Office. Xu is also known as Arts and Crafts Master of Suzhou as well as the representative inheritor of making ‘Huo Cun inkstone’. Si Hai Yi Jia, which focuses on traditional artistic design and sculpture, not only inherits the essence of traditional culture, also creates an unique technique called “log piles painting”. The stone carving works from Si Hai Yi Jia won lots of awards in national competitions. Xu, with inheritance and innovation spirit, strives to spread traditional classic art and creates a new approach to help more people know and love art.

Rani Qumsiyeh

Rani Qumsiyeh joined Bing (Microsoft) in 2011. Since then he drove product improvements in Search Quality and Metrics. He also managed feature development of a large-scale infrastructure experimentation and data analysis. Currently, he is the program Manager for the Bing Predicts project, where they use Web and Social data to predict outcomes of events, such as Football, Soccer, TV Shows, beating industry giants in prediction accuracy.

Yang (BBKinG) Liu

BBKinG, who was working in SMG as program director of “The Game of Life” and “Let’s Talk about Games”, become the chief director of a well-known Electronic Sports program “StarsWar”.

Zhigang Sun

Zhigang SUN, who was born and grew up in Harbin, has enthusiasm for computer science. So he took computer science as his major in college and had taught it until he was 35 years old. Then he made a big move to quit his teaching job, went to southern China and began to work in the internet industry. His education and engineer background gives his endlessly motivation for dedicating his whole life in the online education.