Theme: Question.

TEDxNYUAD will be held on April 19th 2015. There will be eleven speakers from NYUAD community. Our speakers this year will be exploring the theme Question. They will be sharing their novel ideas and fresh perspectives as they redefine the concepts of home and memory, provide a new look on traditions and videogaming, change the way we see (or don’t see) chess, and show the true power of youth.

Conference Center A6 building
New York University Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island Campus
Saadiyat Island
Abu Dhabi, Abū Z̧aby
United Arab Emirates

Amer Nasr

Amer led one of Brazil’s largest peaceful campaigns against corruption in 2012. With the support of over 25,000 students, Amer and his team changed laws in Brazil to promote political transparency.

Attilio Rigotti

Attilio is a Chilean actor, theater-maker and avid video gamer. By combining his passion and love for theater and video games, Attilio will take us on an exciting journey of finding the heroes in ourselves

Charlotte De Bekker

Charlotte is an artist and filmmaker who grew up in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Her art has been featured in a gallery in Dubai, and her latest film Oma en Opa premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana.

Hayat Muhammed Seid

Hayat, from Ethiopia, is the co-founder of PenAfrica, an organization that seeks to promote African literature, connect young writers, and deconstruct the negative image of Africa. In her TEDx talk, Hayat will tell her own story as a way of convincing her audience about the importance that they tell their own.

Jovan Jovancevic

At the age of 5, Jovan became the youngest competitor at the Montenegro National Youth Chess Competition. But simply playing chess was not enough; he had to do it blindfolded. He will be talking about his journey thereafter.

Maitha Al Memari

As a young Emirati woman wearing the Abaya, Maitha is exposed to continuous questions regarding her choice of dress. She will be exploring how the Abaya is not a form of oppression, but a form of expression.

Meera Al Agroobi

In high school, Meera was a bully. After having studied Psychology, she is today an advocate of social issues in the UAE. Her passion is to help young bullies overcome their own evils, and change how schools deal with bullying.

Mohit Mandel

Mohit is an Indian writer and storyteller who has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past four years. Through his interactions with the immigrant community in the city, Mohit will recount the many stories he's stumbled upon... while playing street cricket.

Samuel Ridgeway

Sam, an avid traveller with a passion for science and film, will be questioning the idea of ‘home’ and what this means to him.

Sara Al Shamlan

A female Qatari social entrepreneur, Sara created the “Behind the Glamour” project, which changed the laws to secure primary education for the children of migrant workers in Doha.

Vasily Rudchenko

Vasily is a Ukrainian engineering student and technology enthusiast. He is the recipient of the UAE Drones for Good Award 2015 and will be talking about how innovation should always have a purpose.