Speakers announced so for for TEDxDublinInstituteofTechnology are. Click on the name to go directly to their bio or scroll down.
Nicki Hoyne returned to her home county of Kilkenny in 2013 to launch her business but not before she gained huge experience in sales, marketing and brand management abroad. She worked in London, Dublin and Australia with brands such as Nintendo, Diageo, Marc Jacobs, Chloé and Calvin Klein.
Inspired by her entrepreneurial family and her desire to create her own brand she started My Shining Armour. The name represents herself and her customer – someone who is fearless and loves to be unique. Nicki’s sharp eye for cool trends emerging has seen her nominated for several awards including Image Creative Businesswoman of the Year 2017, Best Online at the Xposé’s Frockadvisor Awards 2017 as well as in four separate categories in the 2017 SME Awards.
This year she achieved a lifelong goal of designing her own handbag collection, and launched pop-up stores in Kilkenny, Dublin and London. From her kitchen table she has grown My Shining Armour to ship to 37 countries on 5 continents and the brand has appeared in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Grazia and The Sunday Times Style Magazine.
Twitter: @myshiningarmour
Website: https://myshiningarmour.com
The co-founder of the online social network, GirlCrew, Áine Mulloy has a background in the humanities before making the move to technology. From Tinder hack to showcasing at SXSW, GirlCrew is now in over 50 cities worldwide, championing women all over the world.
As a young female founder, Áine, and her co-founders, still remain a bit on anomaly in the world of tech. And know first-hand of some of the barriers faced by women in their industry. In 2016, Áine won a 30 Under 30 award for Community Activism, and earlier this year was awarded with a JCI Dublin Ten Outstanding Young People award.
Website: https://www.girlcrew.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GirlCrewHQ/
Twitter: Company: @GirlCrewHQ // Personal: @AineMulloy
Simon Scriver is a professional fundraising consultant, coach and trainer. He received Fundraising Ireland's 'Small Budget, Big Impact' award in 2016, and has previously won Supplier of the Year, Eircom's Start-up Award and the Toastmasters UK & Ireland International Speech Contest. A board member of a small non-profit ‘Making Connections’, he also sits on the Advisory Panel of Rogare, the international fundraising think tank, and is a member of the Institute of Fundraising and the AFP.
Simon also offers consultancy to some of the biggest and smallest charities in Ireland and abroad. He offers advice and training to non-profits to make their fundraising more cost-effective, speaking regularly at international conferences.
Emma has worked in the Arts and Education sectors for the last 6 years, and is fascinated by art forms old and new. She joined the core team of Waterford Walls Street Art Project as social media coordinator in its founding year. Her MA Thesis explored artist rejuvenation of vacant spaces and her paper on this topic was published in the VAI’s Visual Artists Newsheet.
She is Communications Manager and EducationUSA Advisor for the Fulbright Commission in Ireland and has provided children’s art and history workshops for the Little Museum of Dublin, RTÉ’s 1916 Centenary Programme, and the National Museum of Ireland. In her TEDx talk she will discuss how Street Art can breathe life into a city.
Twitter: @Emcavour @WaterfordWalls
Facebook: Waterford Walls
Instagram: WaterfordWalls
LinkedIn: Emma Loughney
Dr. Luca Longo is an assistant professor at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He was awarded the National Teaching Hero in Ireland in 2016. He is an early stage scientist and very passionate about science.
His core research interest is in Artificial Intelligence, particularly in Mental Workload modelling using deductive inference techniques (Defeasible Reasoning) and inductive modelling approaches (Machine Learning). He strives for excellence in his field and is an advocate of motivational teaching and strongly supports learning through passion.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlucalongo/
Twitter: @drlongoluca
Alannah Murray is an award-winning student filmmaker and blogger. In her second year of college she directed documentary “Roll Camera”, which premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh and won Best Documentary at the Underground Film Festival in 2016. Her latest film “Tempus” premiered in Portugal, and is nominated for Best Student Short at the Underground Film Festival.
She started her blog Wheelie Healthy in the summer of 2017 which covers topics about living with a chronic illness, self-care, as well as offering healthy, chronic-illness friendly recipes. Her talk will be about the need to give people with disabilities a platform for change, rather than putting them on pedestals and making them “inspirations” for no reason.
Blog: wheeliehealthyblog.weebly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wheeliehealthyblog/
Shane is 25 year old entrepreneur & ultra endurance athlete based in Dingle, Co.Kerry. Shane is the co owner of WK Fitness Training Facility & this summer ran 24 back to back marathons in 24 days in aid of Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Ireland.
In the process, Shane & his team raised over 140,000 Euro for SBHI and raised very much needed awareness for this small but very special organisation. However Shane's insatiable desire to push his body & and his limits to its extremes has led to his next adventure. In the month of May 2019 Shane will attempt to cross the continent of America, from California to New York City, in 36 days. The event will take a ultra marathon & ultra cycle format!
Running & endurance sports became a huge part of Shane's life at the early age of 17. Having dropped out of college and struggled for confidence running gave him a sense of purpose and improved his quality of life hugely! A benefit and belief he now wishes to pass onto others!
Shane regularly speaks in schools around Ireland, sharing his story with the aim of guiding other young people around Ireland to follow both their dreams & their passions!
Twitter: @_shanefinn
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shanefinnrunning/
Andrea Horan is an entrepreneur; a communicator; a glitter activist and sometimes drag queen.
Following 10 glorious years spent in Youth Communications Agency Thinkhouse, the next obvious move was to open nail bar Tropical Popical (so obvious) in 2012. Tropical Popical has provided her with the platform to flex her interest in art with collaborations with the RHA and the National Gallery of Ireland under her tropical belt. It’s also allowed her to do the type of work that’s most important to her and that she most enjoys – meeting locals within a kitsch & creative space. She was awarded Stellar’s Best Irish Founder in 2016.
Andrea celebrates her belief in the three F’s - feminism, femininity and fun – through Tropical Popical and her not-for-profit venture The Hunreal Issues. Established to try and mobilise the army of women who felt apathetic towards politics in general and reproductive rights in particular, the project aims to throw glitter on the subject of Repeal without minimizing the issue.
Andrea currently has a TV show and festival in development.
Website: www.tropicalpopical.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tropicalpopical
Twitter: @TropicalPopical
Instagram: tropicalpopical
Website: www.thehunrealissues.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehunrealissues
Twitter: @HunRealIssues
Instagram: thehunrealissues
Sarah Joyce is 16 years old, and a Fifth Year student at Castleknock Community College. She was home schooled up until the age of 12, and, shortly after beginning school, became one of the inaugural group of 60 students to join Trinity College Dublin’s Trinity Walton Club. In the July of this year she spoke at Inspirefest 2017, in Dublin’s Bord Gais Energy Theatre, as part of a talk entitled “Trinity Walton Club: Building Creative STEM Capacity”. Sarah was recently awarded First Place in her category at the National Final of the eHealth Digital Natives competition, held in Dublin Castle.
Earlier this year Sarah undertook a week of work experience with the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) at Dunsink Observatory. She enjoyed this so much that she kept in contact, and is now reporting on talks and events taking place at the Observatory, under the title of Young Scientific Journalist. A scholarship recipient at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Sarah plays the violin and the piano, and is currently studying for Grade 8 in both. She is also a member of the Dublin Youth Orchestra.
Sarah strongly believes that the two spheres of STEM and the Arts, usually viewed as separate and self-contained, are intrinsically interconnected. In her talk she will discuss the maths in music, the poetry in physics, and why diverse thinking is the key to engineering a better world.
Twitter: @s_arahjoyce
Úna Begley is a full time Senior Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist working for the HSE. In her spare time, she volunteers with First Fortnight, Ireland’s Mental Health Arts charity, whose aim is mental health stigma reduction through arts and cultural action. As an admirer of the charity’s social change aims and attendee of their January festival for a number of years, Úna became involved first as a festival volunteer in January 2014 before joining the First Fortnight Resource Group in April 2014 to support with fundraising efforts for the charity. In April 2015, Úna joined the First Fortnight Board of Directors of which she is still an active member. She has also acted as Volunteer Coordinator for the last three years.
Úna’s TedX DIT talk is entitled “From the kitchen table to social change” and discusses the volunteer model of social change, using First Fortnight’s volunteer led approach to mental health stigma reduction as an example of the impact volunteers can have on the positive evolution of social behaviours.
Website: www.firstfortnight.ie
Facebook: facebook.com/firstfortnight
Twitter: @firstfortnight on
Tony Duffin is the CEO of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, a position he has held since 5th November 2005. Prior to this, he held a number of senior management roles in the addiction field, including playing a key role in opening Ireland’s first emergency accommodation for young people who inject drugs; and Irelands first wet residential service for entrenched street drinkers. He holds an MSc in ‘Drug and Alcohol Policy’ from Trinity College Dublin, and a Postgraduate Diploma in ‘Research in Health Practice’ through the University of Bath.
About the Ana Liffey Drug Project
Founded in 1982, in the North Inner City as a response to the then emerging heroin epidemic within the community - the Ana Liffey Drug Project has served the people of Dublin for 34 years. Supporting over 2,000 people each year; the organisation continues to work hard to support the communities we work within and the individuals most affected by problematic drug use. One of the main purposes of the Ana Liffey is to engage with people who are active in their addiction; to journey with them; and to help them make healthier choices.
Ana Liffey neither promotes nor denounces drug use, but seeks to respond to problems associated with it; and the Ana Liffey identifies, takes and manages risks. This culture of inclusion and risk taking means that the organisation is innovative and responsive to new drug trends impacting upon people. For over 3 decades the Ana Liffey has informed the debate on national drug policy. The Ana Liffey is now an internationally recognised drug service provider and influencer of drug policy. The Ana Liffey has always punched above its weight and will continue to do so.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/analiffey
?Twitter: @tonyduffin, @AnaLiffey
My name is Ian Kiely, COO of Drone Consultants Irl & Co founder of Drone & Tech Expo, I am a licensed UAV pilot providing aerial support solutions for large organisations and emergency services. We develop new concepts, bring new technologies to Ireland and promote the use of drones for good.
I previously spent 20 years in the hospitality industry, due to serious injury I was forced to re-educate myself. Learning about computers and technology has really opened my mind to the endless possibilities of what we can achieve with collaboration and hard work. I would like to share some of this with you and maybe you will have some ideas of your own.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-kiely-a76444b3/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroneExpoIreland/
Twitter: @Skydronesian
Website: droneconsultantsireland.ie
Co-founder of the world's only purpose-built hemp and sheepswool insulation company, (Black Mountain), Liam Donohoe read for an MSc in Energy Management before going on to PhD research.
This Ted Talk is about the globally-centred work of categorising the dynamic potential of hempcrete as one of the most sustainable building materials currently available. Energy used in buildings accounts for 40% of the world's energy use, and Liam will explain how hempcrete has many advantages over current materials, many of which even those labelled 'green', can result in large scale emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Hempcrete may be particularly suitable for building in earthquake zones due to its ductility.
Developed in France in mid 1990s as a specialist plaster for sensitive historic buildings, hempcrete now can also be cast into structural insulated panels and even printed as 3D bricks, and Liam's talk will explain why he thinks that perhaps these 'little' blocks just might save the world.
Facebook: ttps://www.facebook.com/liam.donohoe.73
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/linkedinliamdonohoe
Instagram: https://instagram.com/donohoe_l
Broadcaster and publishing entrepreneur Norah Casey was formerly a Dragon in the popular television series Dragons’ den and is a well-known radio and television personality. Her book Spark! was published by Penguin in 2015 and her TedX talk The Cure for Grief has been watched by thousands.
Over the past five years Norah has helped over 1000 business start-ups directly and indirectly. While most of her work in start-ups began as a result of her role in Dragons’ Den she has extended her reach beyond that into other investment spaces. As well as owning Harmonia Publishing Ltd, which is engaged in magazine publishing, digital media, app development, events, creative communications and data analysis, Norah also owns Harmonia Investments (home to a range of investments in diverse areas such as home storage, children’s accessories, media and fashion in both the UK and Ireland). She also owns her own production company Miss Clover Media. Her expertise is in moulding budding entrepreneurs into potential business owners. She does one to one consultations, runs business clinics for budding entrepreneurs and SMEs and mentors early stage start-ups and those seeking growth potential at two to three years maturation. She also hosts, speaks and moderates at a wide range of conferences, seminars, training programmes and bespoke mentorship programmes here and abroad. She is currently writing her second book: Secrets of a Dragon: The 100 Things You Need to Know To Start Your Own Business.
A journalist and former nurse, Norah has been Ireland’s Publisher of the Year no fewer than four times. She has served on numerous boards and is currently a member of the Press Council of Ireland, the London-based Women's Irish Network and The International Women's Forum. She is a former Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year.
Website: www.norahcasey.com | www.harmonia.ie
Twitter: @norahcasey
Facebook: www.facebook.com/norah.casey
Instagram: www.instagram.com/norah_casey