The theme of TEDxPurdueU 2015 is "Meraki." An untranslatable word from Modern Greek, it is used to describe doing something with passion, creativity, or love – when you undertake a task so intensely, that you nearly leave a physical piece of yourself in your work.

At TEDxPurdueU 2015, several live speakers from diverse fields and schools of thought will combine to spark deep discussion and interconnection among our community of lifelong learners.

Loeb Playhouse
128 Memorial Mall
West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907
United States

Brent Drake

Dr. Brent M. Drake currently serves as the Chief Data Officer overseeing the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Effectiveness at Purdue University, where he focuses on data related to student learning and attainment, overall institutional effectiveness, institutional reporting, faculty activity, and data analytics. He presents and publishes on a number of topics in higher education including motivational models related to student success, retention enhancing programs, business intelligence and data analytics, enrollment modeling, recruitment, enrollment trends, and student success efforts. Brent also serves as a continuing lecturer in the Purdue department of Educational Studies where he teaches motivation theory, measurement theory, statistics, and research methods in higher education.

Carol Cunningham-Sigman

"Ka-Boom" is a high-energy dance work choreographed by the School of Visual and Performing Arts Professor, Carol Cunningham-Sigman. Action-packed movements, powerful tableaus, and a super-hero soundtrack evoke images of comic book characters. Theatre Department Light Design Graduate student, Greg Freeman, created the dynamic and colorful light design and Sound Design major, Tianle “Vincent” Chenpan, composed the commanding music score. The dancers from the Purdue Contemporary Dance Company perform as villains and super heroes: Scott Blake, Katie Clark, Arlo Eitzer, Chelsey Garn, Alexis Laureano, Gianna Lo Coco, Sibonginkosi Ncube, Amberly Simpson, Abby Zielinski.

Frank Gruber

Frank Gruber grew up in the Midwest heartland and is an entrepreneur, new media journalist, and investor. He is the author of Startup Mixology: Tech Cocktail’s Guide To Building, Growing, and Celebrating Startup Success, published by Wiley. He cofounded Tech Cocktail in 2006, which has grown into a hub for the creative class, offering tech-startup-focused news, events, and resources. Frank has built and launched products for the masses while at AOL, Tribune, and Classified Ventures along with startup efforts like Thankfulfor, Splog Reporter, and more. As a journalist, his works have been featured in a number of top media publications like TechCrunch, Fortune, HuffPo, etc. He was named by Forbes as one of the most connected people in tech. While living the startup life, he also enjoys swimming, strumming his guitar and/or ukulele, warm weather, beaches, and sports – especially the Chicago Cubs.

Glenn Weissinger

Glenn Weissinger spent over 36 years in the aerospace industry principally in the areas of strategic planning, operations research and business development. He recently retired from the position of Vice President – Strategic Planning, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. He is a recipient of Purdue’s Outstanding Aerospace Engineer award for lifetime achievement.

Lalita Amos

Lalita Amos is the CEDO (Chief Executive Development Officer) and Founder of Total Team Solutions, LLC, a 16 year-old leadership development firm. She advises executive management teams on creative problem solving and strategic talent management during frame-breaking change using executive coaching and facilitated strategic planning. Amos studies senior leadership teams, executive coaching, creativity, listening and contribution and is completing a Doctor of Psychology degree in organizational leadership with a focus on the executive coaching of senior leadership teams. She’s also adjunct faculty at Indiana University -Purdue University‎ where she teaches graduate-level courses on Human Resource Management. She had also taught courses in executive coaching and organizational development. She and her husband, Garland Borden, have endowed a scholarship — The Doretta Jean Amos Scholarship Fund.

Lexi Hiland

Lexi Hiland crafts stories by capturing moments on film. Hailing as a film major from Purdue University, she recently embarked on a mission to direct & produce a documentary based on her adoption story. The film, La Lotería de la Vida or The Lottery of Life follows her trip back to Pamplona, Colombia where she retraces her steps of being abandoned at a hospital as a baby, to living and thriving in America with a life full of opportunities. Acting as both director and subject has pushed Hiland to a new level of filmmaking as she dives into the story of her own life and discovers the importance of putting your whole, truest self into your work. While at Purdue she held the position of Student Body Vice President and was involved in various organizations on campus — always running around campus with a camera in one hand documenting her experiences. Lexi is currently living and working in downtown Indianapolis using every spare moment to continue working on the film.

Mamoon Hamid

Mamoon is a General Partner at The Social+Capital Partnership (Social+Capital), a Venture Capital firm based in Palo Alto. He has invested in and served on the boards of some of the most disruptive software companies of recent times including Box, Yammer and Slack. Prior to starting Social+Capital, Mamoon was a Partner at U.S. Venture Partners (USVP). Mamoon started his Silicon Valley career at Xilinx where he spent six years in various engineering and marketing roles.

Sarah Hallberg

Dr. Sarah Hallberg is the Medical Director of the Medically Supervised Weight Loss Program at IU Health Arnett, a program she created. She is board certified in both obesity medicine and internal medicine and has a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology. She has recently created what is only the second non-surgical weight loss rotation in the country for medical students. Her program has consistently exceeded national benchmarks for weight loss, and has been highly successful in reversing diabetes and other metabolic diseases. Dr. Hallberg is also the co-author of www.fitteru.us, a blog about health and wellness. B.S., Kinesiology & Exercise Science, Illinois State University, 1994 M.S., Kinesiology & Exercise Science, Illinois State University, 1996 M.D., Des Moines University, 2002

Todd Putman

Todd Putman is the Chief Commercial Officer at Bolthouse Farms. He recently served as an architect of “Eat Brighter,” a partnership between the White House and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative, the Sesame Workshop, and the Produce Marketing Association created to encourage children to eat more fruits and vegetables. Todd earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Purdue, and now sits on the Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Council. Todd, who is passionately committed to empowering people to accomplish their goals and realize their individual potential. spends his limited free time collaborating on his upcoming book, Be More: Find Your Truth, Tell Your Story, and Get What You Want Out of Life.