NC State is set to host its first TEDx event in six years on Friday, Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in Thompson Hall, with speakers diving into topics of reflections and revelation, following the theme of “Shattered”.

Twelve individual speakers and two performers for Cirque de Vol will appear in the event. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are currently available to the public.

Park scholars Natalie Kraft, a second-year studying computer science and economics, and Trenton Wallis, a second-year studying electrical engineering, along with biology and engineering professor Francis de los Reyes III, began planning the upcoming TEDx NC State event in 2018.

The last TEDx NC State event occurred in 2014, having been held annually since 2010. Kraft and Wallis revived the event and will host it under this year’s theme, “Shattered.”

In order to host a TEDx event, a former TED participant must be involved. De los Reyes is a 2009 TED India fellow.

“We went and convinced Dr. Francis de los Reyes if we could hold a TEDx talk, and thankfully, he said yes,” Wallis said.

While TED is a global nonprofit organization, hosting its signature TED Talks all around the world, TEDx events are self-organized and more locally based. The “x” in TEDx denotes an independently organized event.

Due to the homegrown nature of TEDx, many speakers are NC State students, alumni or faculty. Deborah Lalush, a fifth-year studying industrial design and speaker at the event, used an abridged version of a past research project to audition for the event.

“I just met [the interviewers] in Talley,” Lalush said. “It was pretty casual. I just, kind of, recited my outline to them. The interviews were more of a ‘we want to get to know you and see if we feel like your story is one that we want to make sure gets told’ kind of thing.”

Lalush’s speech focused on the intersection between disability and design.

“I have found a lot of discrepancies between design and this whole thing about designing for disability and universal design, and all that stuff, versus actually being disabled and in design school,” Lalush said. “The actual ability to be in design and do design when you’re disabled is just so much harder. A lot of the world is built around the assumption [that] everyone participating in a thing will be fully able-bodied, when that’s just not how it is.”

Thomas Jackson, a first-year studying horticulture and speaker at the event, also planned to talk about his previous work. He published a collection of poems while in high school and auditioned using selected works from his previous poetry.

“When I first interviewed, I had an actual talk written out, and it had selections of pieces of poetry I had written. We kind of came to the conclusion that it’d be better to do one artistic piece,” Jackson said. “I was brought on with a different avenue than what I thought I was going to do originally.”

His talk will combine themes of mental health with poetry.

“I want every single person who sees it to feel as if they’re able to understand [the struggles some have with mental health],” Jackson said. “And the people who’ve been through it, I want them to feel represented and valued and seen.” 

During his speech, Jeremy Park, a fourth-year studying computer science and speaker at the event, tells the story of how he fell in love with dance and became involved with Fusion Dance Crew after arriving at NC State.

“The lessons I was learning in dance were exactly the same lessons I needed in real life,” Park said. “I try to draw a lot of parallels between what you learn in dance and how that applies [to other aspects of life].”

Kraft and Wallis hope the event will create a sense of community among Raleigh residents, students or otherwise, and break down walls. The “Shattered” theme exemplifies the event’s overall aims.

“We’re largely phrasing [the theme] as shattering your expectations, in terms of breaking down stereotypes, presenting new innovative research and, kind of, destroying boundaries,” Kraft said. “We want to give [the audience] the opportunity to see how innovation flows between the NC State campus and the Raleigh community. It’s a big goal of ours to bridge those two groups of people together to make sure that we see, collaboratively, what Raleigh has to offer in terms of innovation and the ideas we’re spreading.”

A complete list of speakers and performers can be found at www.tedxncstate.com, and TEDx NC State organizers are available for contact by email at organizer@tedxncstate.com.