Theme: "Transforming the future today"

One of the most invaluable assets in today's global economy is 'ideas'. Forming the backbone of many a great achievement,ideas stimulate creativity and innovation. At TEDxKNUST,participants will take part in a TED-like experience that will ultimately equip and inspire them into boundless possibilities.

With a community focus, TEDxKNUST will convene 100 of the most innovative and creative minds from across Ghana. The splurging of new ideas and youth engagement in entrepreneurship in the country, among others, are corroborative evidence that young people should be given the opportunity to share their ideas-ideas that tackle societal challenges.

Additionally, TEDxKNUST will give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through the experiences shared. This in turn will develop a wider understanding of intercultural issues, promote personal growth, and contribute to the creation of innovative policy-oriented solutions that are worth spreading.

Through TED Talks videos and live 18 minutes,or less,presentations,TEDxKNUST seeks to:
*To establish long-term, interdisciplinary network of young leaders that contributes on both professional and personal levels for the good of the continent.
*To educate,inspire and empower the next generation of business leaders and innovators.
*To identify and recognize solutions that can shape the future of Africa.

College of Architecture & Planning
KNUST-Kumasi
KNUST-Kumasi
Kumasi
Ghana

Akua Akyaa Nkrumah

Akua Akyaa Nkrumah B.S, also known as ‘The Green Ghanaian’, is an up and coming Ghanaian Environmental Technologist and blogger who is deeply concerned about environmental issues unique to Ghana and the African continent as a whole. As ‘The Green Ghanaian’, she blogs about the need for Ghanaians to acknowledge and resolve ongoing environmental challenges. Through this medium she seeks to educate, discuss and strike up a national dialogue to address home-grown solutions and generate environmental consciousness, especially among the youth. While pursuing her degree at the University of Maryland, Akua concentrated on Ecological Technology and was the lead researcher for Tseai Energy Unlimited, a start-up business linking agriculture, renewable energy for rural African communities and social innovation. Her research targeted and centered on utilizing feed stocks such as palm oil mill effluent and various other forms of organic waste to produce biogas and electricity. Currently, Akua is an Environmental Consultant for Premier Development Consult in Accra, Ghana while maintaining her vital role as a Research Aid through her work with Energy Solutions Foundation – Ghana, a non-profit organization aiming to provide green technology solutions for the everyday Ghanaian. Akua’s message? “There is not such thing as waste. We just don’t know how valuable our leftovers really are.”

DK Osseo-Asare

DK received an A.B. in Engineering Design and an MArch, both from Harvard University. He is a principal of architecture studio LOWDO http://lowdo.net/ and co-founder of design think tank DSGN AGNC http://dsgnagnc.com/. His building and research explore sustainability by linking form-making, technology and geopolitics with social dimensions of global environment. He has presented his work at the Royal Institute of British Architects, Harvard Graduate School of Design, University of Ghana-Legon and on BBC. DK is a TEDGlobal Fellow, Fulbright Scholar and previously worked for architecture office MOS http://mos-office.net/ and architect-builder Alero Olympio. He blogs about African architecture and making at afrch.blogspot.com. Most recently, he designed a new town http://anamcity.com/ in Eastern Nigeria.

Yaw Adu-Gyamfi

Yaw Adu-Gyamfi is Kumasi local chapter coordinator of Africa Unbound, helping implement the organization's outreach strategy in Ghana. He is also an Atlas Corps Fellow Alumni and Director at Kumasi Center for Life-Long Learning, a center for skills development and entrepreneurship, research and policy advocacy. As a trained Cluster Facilitator and member of the Pan-African Competitiveness Forum-PACF, Yaw works to strengthen the competitiveness of local African organizations through shared best practices and helped found the Tamale Shea Cluster Initiative-TaSCi in Ghana. Prior to co-founding Kumasi Center, Yaw worked as General Manager at Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization-SMIDO, and led efforts at business skills and entrepreneurship training for 100+ mechanics, small trading business owners and light manufacturers in 2010 in collaboration with the Ghana India-Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT. He currently serves on the Boards of LDI Africa and Shea Yeleen International both registered US Non-Profits, helping build the capacity of local grassroots organizations and women Shea Butter producers in Africa respectively. Yaw holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Governance and Sustainable Development from the Catholic University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast respectively. As part of sharing experiences and thoughts, Yaw frequently writes for Tekedia.com, an online media and publishing arm of First Atlantic Semiconductors and Microelectronics Nigeria Limited

Anna Waldman-Brown

Anna Waldman-Brown is a 2012 American Fulbright Fellow with the Technology Consultancy Centre at KNUST, where she researches technology dissemination and innovation in Ghana's engineering sector. She obtained a double Bachelors degree in Writing and Physics from MIT, where she also led the Lab for Chocolate Science and wrote a play about Iceland's economy. She is the co-founder and director of the Practical Education Network, an initiative to bring hands-on science education into secondary school classrooms, and has taught lessons on solar energy in Ghana and Peru.

Rick B. Okyere

Rick B. Okyere is an international conference speaker, sales and marketing coach and a visionary entrepreneur. Rick, is currently the chief executive and president of Evolv.Africa one of the fastest growing international non-governmental-organizations on the African continent. As the president of Evolv.Africa, he presides over the three main tiers of the organization namely: evolv.Kidz, evolv.Edu and evolv.Entre. Through the leadership of E.A, Rick seeks to spearhead the total transformation of the African continent through effective leadership, efficient management and result-based entrepreneurial training of up-and-coming leaders.

Ato Ulzen-Appiah

Ato Ulzen-Appiah is a passionate promoter and supporter of African excellence. He was bred in Ghana, educated in the KNUST primary & secondary schools and then at Presby Boys' Secondary School, Legon. He returned to Ghana after 10 years in the US where he had his university education. He has been writing and blogging since his Presec editorial board days, to the GhanaConscious blogs on GhanaThink.org, and to his personal Mightyafrican blog, focusing on matters close to home. He's a big believer in the power of the internet and an active user of social media for his personal, social and entrepreneurial use. He has a passion for connecting people and building a movement of forward-thinking Africans as showcased in projects like the Barcamp Ghana one. He is also interested in entrepreneurship and all forms of development, likes to meet people and loves to play soccer, table tennis, scrabble and sudoku. He also likes to perform spoken word.