Theme: Discovery and Value Creation

TEDx Bradley University is designed to strengthen community connections in the Greater Peoria region in the context of a broader community-wide initiative called "Play in Peoria." Our theme is "Discovery and Value Creation," based on technology, artificial intelligence, innovation, sustainability, energy, and human thought and expression. Our speakers include a mix of experts from the Bradley University community, government leaders, and trail-blazing entrepreneurs, whose presentations will stimulate and engage through thought-provoking ideas and innovative discoveries that can transform human experience.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Hayden Clark Alumni Center, Bradley University
816 N Tobias Lane
Third Floor
Peoria, Illinois, 61625
United States

Brad Eskridge

Instructor in Residence - Marketing, Bradley University

Brad Eskridge is an Instructor of Marketing at the Foster College of Business at Bradley University. He holds a B.S. and an MBA from Bradley University and is currently a doctoral student at Kennesaw State University. At Bradley, he teaches undergraduate marketing, sales, business, and honors program classes. With over fifteen years of athletic and academic coaching experience, he serves as the Head Coach for the university’s competitive Sales Team. Since taking over in 2016, he has helped the team earn Top-15 placements annually, seven Top-10 placements, and the 2021 and 2022 championships at the National Collegiate Sales Competition. During his tenure at Bradley University, he has been recognized with the Faculty Teaching Award in 2024, Chair’s Citation for Excellence in 2022, Award of Excellence in 2020, and Professional Achievement Award in 2019. His research interests include sales leadership, artificial intelligence use in marketing and sales, and salesperson performance.

Deepak Gaddipati

Founder, Virtusense

Deepak is a technology visionary passionate about fixing healthcare. He gained expertise in machine vision, deep learning, and IoT while developing the first commercial full-body automated scanning system used in most U.S. airports. In 2009, after his grandmother fell, broke her hip, and passed away shortly after due to an unnoticed fall risk, Deepak founded VirtuSense to proactively identify fall-risk in older adults. His first product, VSTBalance, uses AI and machine vision to assess and compare results to population norms, identifying mobility deficits and tracking improvement. Since VSTBalance's 2014 launch, other AI and Lidar-enabled products have been developed to predict, prevent, and protect older adults from falls. Deepak has developed VR-based simulators for the U.S. Army and created real-time facial recognition algorithms at Canfield Scientific to detect melanoma. He has received several grants and awards, contributed to scientific publications, and holds two patents.

Dr. David Spelman

Associate Professor - Civil Engineering & Construction, Bradley University

Dr. David Spelman is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Construction at Bradley University. His expertise includes environmental engineering, stormwater modeling, computational fluid dynamics, biochar production from biosolids, and environmental regulation. His research experience includes a four-year project to design, retrofit, and monitor a large stormwater basin to maximize treatment performance at minimal cost during his PhD work at the University of Florida. He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Illinois. Dr. Spelman has supported 19 student researchers, published 12 journal articles and 3 technical reports, and has presented at 22 conferences and invited talks.

Dr. Heather Ford

Assistant Professor - Interactive Media, Bradley University

Dr. Ford has a Master's of Fine Arts from Bradley University and a BFA from the Illinois Institute of Art both in Graphic and Interactive Design. She teaches and coordinates the User Experience Program for the Department of Interactive Media within the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts at Bradley University. She is an industry professional with over 20 years of fine art, digital creative, and UX experience in the commercial and academic sectors. She was a designer for several Fortune 500 clients working with companies and organizations such as Disney, Maui Jim, United Way, NASA, Museum of Science and Industry, Nike, and Home Depot, utilizing a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach. She was a speaker for Nielsen Norman Group and the National US UX Research Summit. She is the Primary Investigator and User Experience Design Lead on the U.S. Air Force Grant Project Virtual Augmented Reality Readiness project.

Dr. Seth Katz

Full Professor - English, Bradley University

Dr. Seth Katz is Professor of English and associate chair of the Department of English at Bradley University. He is the author of American English Grammar: An Introduction (Routledge 2019) and co-editor of Ain’thology: The History and Life of a Taboo Word (Cambridge Scholars 2015). He was an early adopter of the Internet (1985) and began work in the “digital humanities” before the phrase was coined. His ongoing research involves using large text databases to study current changes in English words and their use.

Gary Dylewski

President, Patriot Solutions Intenational

Gary has over 25 years of experience in leadership positions, including government, industry and academia. He is an acknowledged expert in guiding large organizations engaged in bringing state of the art aviation and C2 capabilities to operational status for the war fighter. Major General (Ret) Dylewski is also the former Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Center for Character Development at the USAF Academy.