TEDx events are independently organized TED conferences, operated under license from TED. They present local versions of the well-known TED format, immersing local attendees in an experience of interdisciplinary ideas, broad perspectives and playful creativity. These events spread more than ideas — at their best, they develop into communities where learning and imagination collide, leading to novel brainstorms and new ideas among inspired minds. Yale, Oxford, Harvard, Caltech, and Stanford have each held TEDx events, along with hundreds of other universities around the world. 

TEDxMIT is an event a long time in the making. John Werner, a fellow at MIT’s School of Engineering, had the TEDxMIT license since 2013. John Werner and Daniela Rus, over a lunch at Catalyst restaurant in Kendall Square, laid out a plan to organize a focal-point event for the MIT and wider communities: by holding an event to celebrate the incredible talent in the MIT community. Central to this event, TEDxMIT would build a coalition of faculty, students, academics, administrators, entrepreneurs, artists, designers and innovators. From the onset, Werner and Rus wove a student group led by MIT undergraduate co-founders Rucha Kelkar ’22 and Stephanie Fu ’22 into the planning team. The first event, held on May 28, 2019 in MIT’s Stata Center, was a success: 14 speakers, over 600 attendees, thousands of connections made, and hundreds of thousands of video views. Join us in amplifying these ideas as we work to make TEDxMIT a key forum for the technology innovation community in the fall and spring semesters.