With inspiring new ideas from local innovators and driven NC State students, we hope you will walk away feeling motivated to make an impact in your community! Our speakers are innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs and they have worked diligently to prepare great Talks for you! We will enjoy performances from local artists and explore unique cultures through the art of song and dance. The event will be interactive with fun activities and opportunities to network with other curious local citizens. After the TEDxNCState 2022 Networking Fair, mingle on over to Titmus Theatre where we will begin the main stage conference at 4:00 PM. We will distribute gift bags and serve light appetizers before the event begins. We hope you’ll join us for an impactful, engaging event!

Titmus Theatre
2241 Dunn Ave
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27606
United States

Abhichart Krissanaprasit

Scientist & Researcher

Whether it be exploring new research ventures or traveling to exotic destinations to practice yoga, Abhichart chooses to embrace new opportunities that are challenging and unique. Abhichart designed and engineered a self-folding, functional RNA nanostructure that is programmable, specific and reversible, and will share with us the joy of finding our spark and scientific curiosity.

Christopher Mismash

Innovator, Consultant, & Entrepreneur

Christopher Mismash is an innovator through-and-through. He has led numerous successful start-ups centered in the digital domain and currently consults for Fortune100 companies such as CenturyLink and Caterpillar. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Human Centered Innovation at NC State’s College of Design, and will speak to how we can all think more intentionally about our own innovation.

Etienne Phillips

Mathematician & Philosopher

Growing up living with a single parent who indoctrinated him into a world of conspiracies, Etienne Phillips was socialized into having some rather “out of the ordinary” beliefs. Surrounded by these beliefs, the world was a terrifying place for him as a young child. Over time, he began to shift his perspectives and develop his own world view as he interacted with people in the world, and will share with us how this can inform our own interactions in society.

Joyel Crawford

Leadership Coach

New Jersey native, Joyel Crawford, strives to live as authentically as possible while helping others do the same by being a Certified Professional Career Coach, Certified Virtual Presenter, and Leadership Development Consultant at Crawford Leadership Strategies. Joyel has learned to RISE to a challenge of change after surviving alopecia areata. Check out her Amazon best-selling book “Show Your Ask” to take a look at her experiences. A natural-born performer, Joyel has been a speaker for many conferences and has her own podcast! Make sure to check out our bio for tickets for the event featuring Joyel’s talk!

Laura Bottomley

Engineering Education Researcher

Dr. Laura Bottomley is a Teaching Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at NC State University and the Director of Women in Engineering, Director of Engineering Education, and Director of The Engineering Place for K-20 Outreach. She will speak from her experiences at NC State as an advocate for a new way to model our education system. In addition to her roles at the University, Laura helps schools reinvent themselves as engineering magnet schools.

Shannon Pinnell

Researcher

Since witnessing the disconnect between the worlds of social innovation and engineering Shannon has found a passion for engineering health monitoring devices for low-resource communities. Through her work experiences at various labs in electrical engineering, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center, and co-founding her own research nonprofit she began to see how many existing technologies have the potential to help solve social issues around the world but are simply not leveraged. She is currently designing a watch that uses light to measure hemoglobin values to aid in Iron Deficiency Anemia diagnoses and reduce the burden of such a diagnosis on the local healthcare system. Shannon will share how designing new technology with social innovation in mind can alter the design process and often push the bounds of existing knowledge.

Wen Rivero Pena

Researcher

Wen is a food engineering Ph.D. candidate preparing to undertake the current challenges in food processing. Their background is in Chemical Engineering (B.S., Montana State University) and Food Science (M.S., North Carolina State University). Wen researches the quality and safety of foods under cold plasma processing. They presented this research at the Institute of Food Technologists and the International Association for Food Protection. In the next 2-3 years, they see themselves working in food manufacturing and continuous improvement. Wen is also a certified GLBT student advocate.