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Thinking Digital and Newcastle University come together to bring the TED concept to Newcastle

Thinking Digital and Newcastle University, supported by the Institute of Mathematics, Shout Digital and Maths Hub Great North, are bringing the TED concept to the Great North Museum: Hancock on Sunday July 5.

TED was started as a non-profit organisation in California 30 years ago, with a mission to share ‘ideas worth spreading’. Today, it holds an annual conference and a global conference which attracts speakers of the calibre of Bill Gates to Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore.

The Newcastle event is a TEDx conference, where local groups organise their own independent programme of speakers under the TED umbrella, with the aim of inspiring debate and discussion.

TEDxNewcastle has lined up 10 speakers ranging from Oxford University academics to a 2014 BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist. They will be discussing everything from the least well-known ideas of Enigma code breaker Alan Turing to the extraordinary talent of children living in slums in developing countries.

Thinking Digital’s Herb Kim said: “We have put together a diverse and fascinating line-up of speakers for TEDxNewcastle, who are sure to inspire debate and fresh ideas among the audience.

“This is an event for everybody interested in science, education, culture and the environment, and how new and existing theories are being put into practice. It’s also a forum for fun ideas and knowledge, and I’m confident everyone who attends will come away from the event with some fascinating new insights.”

Education is one of the main themes of TEDxNewcastle. The application of mathematics will come under the spotlight with Prof Ehrhard Behrends from Freie Universität Berlin, who will look at Mathematical Magic – or how maths is used by magicians to find a ‘secret’ number and in card tricks.

Oxford University’s Dr Thomas Woolley, an expert in mathematical biology, will focus on Alan Turing’s lesser-known theories about patterning and biology in Mighty Morphogenesis, or how the fish got its spots. The presentation aims to show why mathematicians love cheetahs, but hate ring tailed lemurs.

Steve Humble from Newcastle University, who writes the fortnightly newspaper column Dr Maths and a range of resources for children, will focus on the talented children he met in the slums of Africa, while Prof Peter Grindrod of Oxford University will look at maths and the digital economy.

Newcastle University’s Prof Sugata Mitra, who won the $1 million 2013 TED prize and helped to inspire the movie Slumdog Millionaire through his hole in the wall experiment in India that gave children free computer access, will discuss the future of learning.

Prof James Tooley, from Newcastle University, is a specialist in the role of government in education. His work to set up low-cost private schools in Ghana, Sierra Leone and India will come under the spotlight in his presentation.

Pam Warhurst, a former head of the Forestry Commission, will discuss her Incredible Edible Todmorden initiative, which encourages ordinary people to take control of their communities and their surroundings through civic engagement and food.

Entrepreneur Joanna Montgomery will use her presentation to discuss enterprise and the tale of her startup Little Riot, the company behind Pillow Talk, which connects loved ones over long distances.

Dannie Lu-Carr, an acting and business performance coach will share her thoughts on why creativity is an important part of modern life, and Sophie Westbrooke will demonstrate this in practice. The teenage recorder specialist and multi-instrumentalist, a finalist in last year’s BBC Young Musician of the Year contest, will discuss her journey so far and her efforts to popularise the recorder.

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