Theme: BOLD VISION

Join us for a day of creativity, inspiration, fun, and delight. Meet 13 speakers with BOLD VISIONS to share:
A robotics entrepreneur, bioremediation engineer, music man
An amphibious housing architect, urban climate scientist, pain reliever
An Alzheimer’s disruptor, forgiver, couples sleep expert
An augmented reality storyteller, connection champion,education advocate,
And a sound sender
Tickets at TEDxManhattanBeach.com

Mira Costa High School
1401 Artesia Blvd
Manhattan Beach, California, 90266
United States

Aaron Ames

Robotics Entrepreneur

Aaron Ames runs the Advanced Mobility Laboratory (AMBER Lab) as part of the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, the Department of Computing and Mathematical Science and at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST). In the AMBER Lab, he and his students hand-build and test bipedal robots and prosthetic limbs, and create the theory and the algorithms that govern how the robots walk. The goal is to achieve human-like robotic walking and translate that capability to robotic assistive devices as well as robots that can explore environments not accessible to humans—including Mars and beyond. Ames earned his undergraduate degrees from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2010, he received the National Science Foundation CAREER award for his research on bipedal robotic walking and its applications to prosthetic devices. He also received the 2015 Donald P. Eckman Award.

Dale Bredesen

Alzheimer's Disruptor

Dr. Dale E. Bredesen received an undergraduate degree from Caltech, medical degree from Duke, and served his residency and chief residency in Neurology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to joining the UCLA faculty and then being recruited by the Burnham Institute to direct the Program on Aging, he earned a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Professor Stanley Prusiner. He served as the founding President of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and as Adjunct Professor at UCSF before returning to UCLA to direct the Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, and as Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine.

David Romero

Sound Healer

David Romero is on Faculty at the University of Southern California as lecturer of both Yogic Sciences and Stress Management. His background prior to teaching yoga is in Pain Management. David discovered the basics of vibrational healing when he worked as a Medical Device Representative for St. Jude Medical, Neuromodulation Division. Prior to his sales experience, David was a Captain in the United States Air Force where he managed multi-million dollar cutting edge satellite systems for the U.S. Government. David and his brother Frank Capwell share their practice of Sound Healing and Vibrational Therapeutics internationally, teaching others that they can heal themselves through awareness, breath and vibration. David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the United States Air Force Academy. When he is not teaching yoga and meditation, David loves to spend time with his girlfriend Shelley and her three children, shooting photography, and skateboarding on the Manhattan Beach Strand.

Elizabeth English

Amphibious Housing Architect

Dr. Elizabeth C. English is a pioneer in the emerging field of amphibious architecture. Her current research focuses on developing amphibious foundation systems as a flood risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy. Her work supports the preservation of traditional housing forms and respects local cultural practices with projects addressing real needs in Vietnam, Canada, Nicaragua, North Carolina and Louisiana. Elizabeth has experience in education, practice, teaching and research. She holds a BA in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University, an MS in Civil Engineering from MIT, and a PhD in Architectural Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. Elizabeth is founder and director of the Buoyant Foundation Project, and founder and organizer of the Building Resilience Workshop series. Both projects promote strategies that work in synchrony WITH water, enhancing community resilience and encouraging the use of redundant forms of flood mitigation.

Ethan Nahlinder

Music Man

Ethan Nahlinder is a junior at Mira Costa High School, where he is a member of the school’s marching band and Wind Symphony. He first got a taste of music when he began taking piano lessons in kindergarten. However, music became an integral part of his life once he discovered The Beatles and decided to pick up the guitar. Several instruments later, his world was filled with music as he played guitar in rock groups, clarinet in classical groups, and drums in jazz groups. He plans to pursue filmmaking in the future and continue playing music for the rest of his life.

Frank Capwell

Sound Healer

Frank Capwell is a spiritual teacher and healer living in Joshua Tree. For most of his life, he has enjoyed helping others alleviate their own suffering from both physical and mental illness through insight mediation, sound healing, diet, and ultimate realization of the Self. Frank began practicing insight meditation during his early childhood while intensely studying martial arts, the Bible, and the practice of Zen. During his service in the U.S. Marines in the 1990’s, he began teaching insight meditation to fellow Marines. Frank holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with emphasis on World Religions and Philosophy from California State University, San Bernardino, and a juris doctorate with an emphasis on Jurisprudence and Constitutional Law from Chapman Law School. Frank also lectures and leads workshops on holistic leadership in the corporate world at conferences, universities, businesses, and in private consultation.

George Ban-Weiss

Urban Climate Scientist

George’s research uses numerical models and field observations to investigate air pollution, climate, and land cover change, from neighborhood to global views. He is an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at USC, as well as the Pasquale and Adelina Arpea Early Career Chair. In 2018, he received both the National Science Foundation Early Career Award, and the American Geophysical Union Global Environmental Change Early Career Award. George was named one of the world’s 35 top innovators under the age of 35 by MIT Technology Review, and was part of the development team that won an R&D100 award. George received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees at the University of California, Berkeley; was Research Associate at the Carnegie Institution, Department of Global Ecology at Stanford; His research has informed public policy in California and is the basis of over 50 publications in peer-review literature.

Jenn Sherer

Pain Reliever

A low-back injury at age 18 launched Jenn into a two-decade struggle with pain. By age 39, her repertoire of pain extended to her knees, shoulders, neck and feet, as well as added symptoms of inflexibility, weakness, and limited range of motion. Just six months after her new practice, which has evolved to be called “Spinefulness,” Jenn was essentially pain free. Today Jenn feels younger and stronger than she did two decades ago. She’s passionate about having others discover the potential of wellness at any age, and she continues to research and further the study of Spinefulness. She loves giving others hope and helping them unwind their bodies by understanding the physics of their flesh and bone. Jenn has a B.S. in Product Design Engineering from Stanford University and is a student of anatomy and the mystical and more esoteric spiritual aspects of the spine. She also enjoys golf, dancing, and sailing.

Jon Mar

Augmented Reality Storyteller

Jonmar discovered his love of the arts at age three, his passion for programming at twelve, and the bliss of songwriting at twenty-four. These became the pillars of his ultimate passion — storytelling. Now with the advent of augmented reality, his talents have found a unified storytelling expression, a singularity of sight and sound. Jonmar’s augmented reality empowered artwork features immersive three dimensional experiences that pierce the veil of this world and fill one’s heart with child-like wonder. Hailed as magical by art critics across Los Angeles, Billboard magazine agrees, further describing Jonmar’s work as “Harry Potter-type magic.” He worked on a special innovation team at Nike World Headquarters for six years and he founded Savageapps, an iOS development company, where four of his apps reached #1 globally. His unique approach to both development and design has been featured by Apple, Rolling Stone, and Guitar World magazines.

Molly Carroll

Connection Champion

Molly Carroll is a licensed therapist and professional coach who holds a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. Molly is an expert in her field with over 25 years of experience in education and mental health. She is a non-fiction writer, educator, and founder and director of the social-emotional curriculum Flourish. In 2015, Molly published an artistic self-help journal Cracking Open. Two years later she published her second book about around trusting and following your intuition, Trust Within: Letting Intuition Lead. Molly is also a successful public speaker for corporations such as Apple, Delta Dental, Lifesize and LinkedIn, and no stranger to the TEDx stage. She conducts popular retreats throughout the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Sara Schulting Kranz

Forgiver

Sara Schulting-Kranz is a professional coach, natural energy healer, wilderness guide, represented writer, single mom of three amazing sons, and executive producer of “Walk Through This,” a documentary feature in production about her healing journey in nature. As a multiple trauma survivor herself, Sara coaches individual men and women through their own life-shifting journeys of healing and transformation. When not working with individual clients, you will find her guiding retreats in the Grand Canyon and mountains of Southern California offering coaching, hiking, adventuring, meditation and breathwork. Cool Fun Fact: Sara served as a guide for female, blind Paralympian and adventure seeker, Shawn Cheshire, as she set the world record on October 8, 2018 as the only blind woman to hike the Grand Canyon from rim to rim to rim — 42 miles in 24 hours and 15 minutes!

Shaily Mahendra

Bioremediator

Dr. Shaily Mahendra develops novel environmental applications of nanomaterials, monitoring tools, and technologies for bioremediation of water contaminants resulting from industrial, military, agricultural, and energy production activities. Currently a prestigious award-winning Professor in the UCLA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shaily teaches courses and conducts research in the areas of environmental engineering and microbiology. She seeks solutions to two of our biggest challenges — clean water and clean energy. Shaily is also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and the Molecular Toxicology Program. She received her Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, and post-doctoral training at Rice University. Throughout her career she received the NSF Career Award, DuPont Young Professor Award, Walter Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, and Paul Busch Award from the Water Research Foundation.

Wendy Troxel

Couples Sleep Scientist

Psychologist Wendy Troxel, Ph.D. is the leading scientific authority on sleep issues for couples. She is a Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist at RAND and a licensed clinical psychologist, with more than fifteen years of clinical and research experience in sleep medicine. Arianna Huffington recently called her one of the 5 most influential people in sleep, saying “Wendy Troxel is on the front lines of the sleep revolution. Again and again, her research shows just how fundamentally sleep affects every aspect of our lives…” Dr. Troxel has received several awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense, and professional societies. She is Associate Editor for the research journals Sleep Health and Behavioral Sleep Medicine and serves on the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board. Troxel’s research has been widely cited in the national and international media, including print and television interviews on CBS Sunday Morning, New York Times, BBC & CNN.

Zahra Kassam

Education Advocate

Zahra Kassam is Founder and CEO of venture-backed startup, Monti Kids: the only subscription service for children ages 0-3 that provides an authentic Montessori education. Zahra holds a BA in Psychology from Harvard and a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is an internationally certified Montessori teacher at the infant, toddler and preschool levels and a mother to two young boys. Through Monti Kids, Zahra is filling the education gap from birth to preschool, the most critical years of development when 85% of the brain is formed. Zahra has been invited to the White House Early Education Summit, named a Global Education Influencer, named a ‘World Changing Woman’ by Conscious Company Media, and was nominated for the Dalai Lama Unsung Heroes of Compassion Awards for her work with children. Zahra appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank in January 2019 and secured a deal with Kevin O’Leary.