Wolfson Campus Hosts Inaugural TEDxMDC Event
Innovation and inspiration shined at the Wolfson Campus Auditorium during Miami Dade College’s first-ever TEDxMDC event on Dec. 5.
The inaugural event featured six speakers that showcased Miami’s progress, identity and potential.
They included former Miami Heat player and two-time National Basketball Association Champion Shane Battier, Friends of The Underline CEO Meg Daly, clinical psychologist Joan Godoy, award-winning Showmaker Natasha Tsakos, HistoryMiami Museum resident historian Paul George, and Syneurgy co-founder and co-CEO Michael Mannino.
George, a former social sciences professor at MDC, focused his presentation on the genesis of Wolfson Campus that helped revitalize a decaying downtown Miami.
“[Wolfson Campus] was part of the original borders of Miami in 1896 without homes,” George said in an interview with The Reporter prior to the event. “So I just want [students] to get an appreciation for the rich, textured, layered history of the area and its ups and downs.”
The idea for the event blossomed after a conversation between José Fernández-Calvo, a lab technician at the campus’ Artificial Intelligence Center, and Mannino, a fellow TED enthusiast who teaches philosophy and applied AI courses at the College.
“We were thinking of doing a small TEDx event at the AI center,” Fernández-Calvo said. “But then people throughout MDC were very enthusiastic and we joined with another group that already had the same idea of doing a TEDxMDC event, so the event grew very fast.”
Fernández-Calvo obtained a TEDxMDC license in July and was responsible for complying with the event’s regulations.
He worked with the production team, led by Pedro Santos Acosta, executive director of emerging technologies at MDC, to ensure the stage design, visual and audio recordings, logistics and marketing were consistent with TED guidelines.
Antonio Delgado, the College’s vice president of innovation and technology partnerships, led the talk curation team, which selected the speakers for the event.
“[The speakers] are high profile leaders in their own industries,” Delgado said. “Bringing them with their own idea for everyone to learn about…and how they move people is what we were prioritizing.”
According to Fernández-Calvo, the College hopes to apply for a new license to host another TEDx event next year.
“It would be great [if] this becomes a thing at MDC with students, faculty and staff all working together to have a yearly event,” Fernández-Calvo said.
The event was recorded by MDC-TV and will be available for viewing on the TEDx YouTube channel at a later date.
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