On Friday, November 28, eight students from TU Delft were selected to present their ideas at the TEDxDelft Award. The competition, organised by TEDxDelft in association with YES Delft, was held at the YES Delft facility at Molengraaffsingel.
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“The idea of the TEDxDelft Award is to encourage students to pitch new ideas on a TEDx stage and to help them to present these ideas in the best way they can in front of a live audience. We at TEDxDelft like to include students on our stage and we think the TEDxDelft Award is a very appealing way to accomplish that,” said Rob Speekenbrink, Licensee of TEDxDelft.
Industrial Design Engineering student Mileha Soneji won the jury award and the audience poll award. Soneji’s presentation, Small Steps, Big Results, was about her staircase solution to empower those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Soneji said she came upon the idea while observing a relative with Parkinson’s who found it easier to navigate stairs than he did flat surfaces. She added that she believes that sometimes empathy and observation are all it takes for great ideas to emerge.
As the winner, Soneji will be one of the speakers at TEDxDelft 2015 on February 27, 2015.
An incubator for ideas emerging at TU Delft, the award is supported by YES Delft as a way to promote innovation on campus. The theme for the night was “flight” and the venue was decorated to be reminiscent of an airport lounge and aeroplane, with a baggage check-in, flight seats, themed-announcement and even a business lounge. “The good news is, everyone is flying business class,” said the compere of the night, as drinks and snacks were served.
The speakers received some training on public speaking and presentation. Dorine Dulves started her talk on safer buildings by reminding the audience that they were probably not as safe as they thought! Marco Galli screened a time-lapse video of the making of an e-box, his DIY-home for emergency shelter. Other presenters were Devin Malone (One night’s tent), Sander Hulsman (A novel aircraft design), Giuseppe Coreale (All you need is plasma), and Gautham Ram (The future’s energy carrier).
“We are always surprised with the versatility of ideas that are presented at TEDxDelft Award. We often see TU Delft students pitch ideas regarding solutions to problems that are very close to them. Some of the students approach it in a very technical manner, some in a very personal one. The awards are always surprising and inspiring and therefore always interesting,” added Speekenbrink.
Disclaimer: The writer of this report is also a member of the TEDxDelft webcare team.
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