UCSI students celebrate a day at the opera, TED style

By Meagen Zablocki, UCSI student

On Tuesday, September 30th, a large group of creative thinkers, inspirational speakers, and curious innovators filed into the Detroit Opera House for the sixth annual TEDxDetroit Conference. Included in this predominantly adult group were a number of Utica Center for Science and Industry (UCSI) students. These students had the opportunity to attend the conference, which ran from 8 a.m. to nearly 6 p.m. and to experience the mingling of people truly passionate about the future.

TED is a non-profit organization devoted to spreading new ideas in the realms of Technology, Entertainment and Design to promote change and innovation worldwide. TED conferences bring together inspiring speakers from a variety of walks of life to participate in TED “talks,” brief (18 minutes or less) but powerful speeches and presentations.

Branching off from the original TED conferences are the regional TEDx groups, such as the one which took place in Detroit. TEDx conferences are connected with the TED organization but independently organized by various volunteers. UCSI teacher Gregory Feldkamp was one such volunteer, serving as the Director of Education for the conference and representing the Utica Community School and UCSI program.

Students attending the TEDx Detroit conference were able to listen to the broad range of inspirational speakers, varying from Pixar’s Jim Murphy to Andy Didorosi of the Detroit Bus System. In this way speakers represented both global concerns and those specific to the Detroit area. Additionally, in between Speech/Presentation Sessions, students could explore the array of labs set up behind the stage, meant to provide information in a hands-on way. One particularly popular lab from the company Backyard Brains featured an experiment in which electric signals from the presenter’s brain were transferred to a volunteer’s body to cause involuntary muscle movements. UCSI students found the labs to be very informative, and enjoyed the opportunity to network and discuss innovation with a variety of professionals.

Students leaving the Opera House found themselves inspired by the experience and excited about all they had learned and the connections they had made. Undoubtedly, many of these students are already eagerly hoping to attend the conference when it returns to Detroit in 2015.

Participating UCSI students and their home high schools:

Ford II High School:
Aiden Faraji
Calvin Hawkins
Anothony Mauri
Jessica McCreary
Meagan Zablocki -- student photographer

Stevenson High School:
Mecedas Adams
Nick Seta
Taina Santiago
Andy Smilnak
Collin Arrowood
Bailey Whitehead
Tyler Gonyea
Kyle Gray
Megan Lowe -- student photographer

Utica High School:
Kay Kaczmarczyk
Angelica Broome

Eisenhower High School:​
Nick Schwartz