Miwa Matreyek is an Internationally recognized animator, designer and multimedia artist who creates animated short films as well as live works that integrate animation, performance and video installation. Her work explores how animation transforms when it is combined with body and space (and vice-versa) at the intersection of film and theater, illusion and construction.
Session: Art @ the Edge
Thursday, October 1
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Joe McCormack is on a mission to help organizations master the art of the short story. In an age of shrinking attention spans, non-stop interruptions and floods of information, the messages business leaders send out are getting lost in a sea of words. His new book, Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less tackles the timeliness of the “less is more” mandate.
Session: Brief
Thursday, October 1
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking.
Recommended Books
James McLurkin Roboticist, Inventor, Researcher & Teacher
As a child, James McLurkin was constantly building with LEGO bricks, cardboard boxes, or any other materials he could access. Today, he continues this tradition using Mother Nature as a model, researching and developing algorithms and techniques for constructing and programming large swarms of autonomous robots.
A leader in the field of robotics, McLurkin is an assistant professor at Rice University in the Department of Computer Science. His research focuses on developing distributed algorithms for multi-robot systems, which are software that produce complex group behaviors from the interactions of many simple individuals. These ideas are not new: ants, bees, wasps, and termites have been running this type of software for 120 million years. His research group has one of the largest collections of robots in the world, with over 200 robots in use. The SwarmBots were originally created during McLurkin’s five-year tenure as lead research scientist at iRobot, one of the world’s leading robotics companies, and were the largest swarm in the world at the time.
Nipun Mehta is the founder of Service Space, an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 500,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free. Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, Dalai Lama's Unsung Heroes of Compassion award and the President's Volunteer Service Award. He is routinely invited to share his message of "giftivism" to wide ranging audiences, from inner city youth in Memphis to academics in London to international dignitaries at the United Nations; his speech at UPenn commencement in May 2012 was read by millions. He serves on the advisory boards of the Seva Foundation, the Dalai Lama Foundation, and Greater Good Science Center.
Session: Be Selfish, Be Generous
Wednesday, September 30
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking.
Recommended Books
Kiersten Nash believes passionately in the power of creativity. The power to ask: "Why? What if…?” and "How might we...?" In 2013, she founded Public Works—a design-led research collaborative that works for, with, and in a diversity of publics to catalyze creative civic engagement. By harnessing design as a means to ask questions, the folks at Public Works develop innovative strategies for expanding the creative capacities of individuals and organizations to understand how they can and do impact their everyday environments—be it a patch of grass, park, or public policy.
Kiersten’s collaborations have been recognized by such notable institutions as The Municipal Art Society of New York and The National Endowment for the Arts. Kiersten currently lives in Harlem, but she calls Kentucky home.
Session: Tuning In To The Bluegrass From The Ground, Up
Wednesday, September 30
2:40 PM - 3:00 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Maci Peterson, the CEO and co-founder of On Second Thought, is a DC-based entrepreneur with roots in Chicago. In 2015, she was named “Tech’s Newest Innovator" by Essence Magazine and recognized among Washington Business Journal’s “40 Under 40.” On Second Thought won First Place at SXSW's annual pitch competition #StartupOasis in 2014, was named "The Texting Savior" by AT&T, and was recently named a Top 10 finalist in the Women Who Tech Startup Challenge, in partnership with Craig Newmark of craigslist and Fred and Joanne Wilson. Before launching On Second Thought, Peterson was a brand manager at Marriott International and a marketing strategist for The Root. Peterson received her Bachelor of Arts in public relations and advertising from Chapman University.
Session: Staying Relevant
Wednesday, September 30
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking.
Recommended Books
Alisandra Puliti is the Entertainment Director for HELLO! US. After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a journalism degree in 2005, she received the call of a lifetime to come on staff at the newly launched US edition of OK! Magazine. After two years,Us Weekly came calling and wanted her to join their team as a reporter. For six years, she remained an integral part of the team and worked her way up to Deputy News Director. In November 2015, she sought out a new, exciting challenge to help launch the US online edition of HELLO! magazine, another popular publication from across the pond. AtHELLO! Puliti oversees the celebrity content that includes interviews, features and event coverage. She also oversees all aspects of social media. Over the course of her nine year career, one thing has always remained the same – her passion and love of celebrity (especially Justin Timberlake!). For her, there is nothing more exhilarating than getting the interview of a lifetime or helping navigate the crazy world of celeb news.
Session: Celebrity...Fame and Pop Culture
Friday, October 2
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Ella Frances Sanders is a writer and illustrator. During an internship in North Africa for the storytelling platform Maptia she wrote and illustrated a blog post that went viral, setting into motion a series of unforeseeable and wondrous events. The most notable of these was the publication of her first book entitled Lost in Translation — A Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World, which was on the New York Times travel bestseller list for several months.
Session: IF Early Start: Lost In Translation
Thursday, October 1
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking.
Recommended Books
Kathy is a Louisville native and has lived most of her life here. She is a graduate of Mercy Academy holds Bachelor’s degrees in Theatre Arts and English, and a Master’s degree in Educational & Counseling Psychology from the University of Louisville. She worked for six years as a High School English Teacher in Bardstown and Louisville. At the present time Kathy is an administrator at the University of Louisville, working as an Administrative Services Manager for residents and fellows at the School of Medicine.
She currently lives outside of Louisville with her husband and multiple pets, and in addition to her job with U of L she does volunteer work with Hosparus of Louisville which cares patients at the end of life, and Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky which rehabilitates and releases sick and injured birds of prey.
Carey Smith is Founder and CBA (Chief Big Ass) of Big Ass Fans, a very unique company headquartered in Lexington, KY. Because he refused to lay off employees during the Great Recession and even hired, Inc. named him "Economy Hero" in 2011. That same year, Ernst & Young named him a regional Entrepreneur of the Year. Carey is now focused on how Big Ass Fans can become a 200-year company, one that acts always in the best long-term interests of its customers, employees and suppliers.
Session: Staying Relevant
Wednesday, September 30
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking.
Recommended Books
Born and raised in Kentucky, cellist and composer Ben Sollee is known as a prolific collaborator. Since the release of his debut record in 2008, Learning to Bend, he has toured the world performing with artists such Otis Taylor, My Morning Jacket and Bela Fleck. He's songs and story have been featured on NPR's All Things Considered and in the New York Times. A lover of dance and film, Sollee has created music for a number of ballets for both the Louisville Ballet and Charlotte Ballet. In 2013, his score for the documentary Maidentrip shared the spotlight as an official selection at the SXSW Film Festival and received the Viewer's Choice Award. This fall he will release his 5th studio record, Steeples, in collaboration with Austin-based, indie-orchestra Mother Falcon.
Session: Tuning In To The Bluegrass From The Ground, Up
Wednesday, September 30
2:40 PM - 3:00 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Jackie Thomas is international. Born in Louisville to an American father and French mother, she has been speaking two languages since childhood. A graduate of Durrett High School in Louisville and Georgetown College in Ky., she obtained her MA in French from the Middlebury College (Vermont) program at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. Jackie continued living in France for 30 years where she worked at IBM France/Europe in Paris teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and running the Skills Fitness Center. During that time she married and had two sons, Sergio and Eric. Her two sons now live in Louisville as does her 5-year-old grandson, Carter.
Returning to Louisville in 1997 was challenging! She decided to continue teaching ESL; for the last 15 years she has taught ESL at the University of Louisville, Spalding University, Jefferson Community and Technical College (JCTC), Western High and Waggener High. Now retired, she is the JCTC Director of “Next Step”, a yearly 2-week boot camp to teach Jefferson County Public School ESL high school students ‘how to get into college.’ She also enjoys being a facilitator at the Louisville Community of Mindful Living, studying meditation at the Earth and Spirit Center, and participating in 'Second Chance at Life.’
Since her own kidney transplant on April 8, 2014, Jackie has become a volunteer at the Jewish Hospital Transplant Center and attends meetings at the Second Chance @ Life Her spark is to ‘give back’ and be instrumental in helping kidney patients find living donors and continue to mentor her ESL students. In her spare time, she travels, hikes, swims, embroiders, reads, cooks, listens to NPR, takes care of her grandson AND attends the IdeaFestival!
Zeynep Tufekci is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina and a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times. She is also an Andrew Carnegie Fellow and a faculty associate at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Her research revolves around the interaction of technology and society.
Jenny Wu is an interdisciplinary scientist whose research focuses on how technology can augment human experience.
Session: The Rise of the Smart Machines...Work...and the Crash of Air France Flight 447
Wednesday, September 30 | 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Artificial intelligence expert whose work explores the intersection of AI, security and the future of work.
Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy is a computer scientist who is doing research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and security. An associate professor at the school of engineering at the University of Louisville, he is a founding director of the Cybersecurity laboratory in the department of computer engineering and computer science. Dr. Yampolskiy has published over a 100 research papers and multiple books.
Session: The Rise of Super Smart Machines...Work...and the Crash of Air France Flight 447
Wednesday, September 30 | 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center
Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking.