2014 | tedxroyalholloway

2014: Catalysts

Our theme for this year was "Catalysts", which the Oxford dictionary defines as "a person or thing that precipitates an event". We wanted to expand on the chemical origin of catalysts, and explore how people and movements can become the cause of change in the world.

Our event included a series of speeches from the following individuals as well as an incredible art exhibition where we invited people to explore what the term meant to them.

Recordings of each of the talks done as a part of this event are available by clicking on the pictures below and choosing to "Go to link".

Salman Al Najem is a painter with a BA in Interior design from University of the Arts’ London College of Communication. With his art he choose to be an adult yet incorporate childish elements creating a unique combination of “both worlds” to express a pure, untouched emotional point of view. As an artist Salman strives to reach perfection, until he discovers that perfection lies in imperfection, ultimately making his art perfectly imperfect; it’s not as complicated as it seems.	Leon McCarron is a Northern Irish adventurer, film-maker and writer. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and specialises in long distance, human-powered expeditions. In Winter 2011-2012, Leon spent 6 months walking 3,000 miles across China, filming a 4-part National Geographic TV show along the way. Previous to this, he rode a bicycle 14,000 miles from New York to Hong Kong; this trip too was documented in a television show which aired in over 60 countries worldwide.	Maja Szymczyk (stage name Maja Bloom) is a multilingual singer and songwriter, actress, model, and presenter who has also worked in various business roles, particularly in Sales. Despite starting her singing career very late, she has already performed globally with some of the best musicians in the world, even singing for Princes! She has recently started her songwriting project titled 'Petal' and is currently working on her debut album in London. Check out www.PlanetMaja.com for more info
Tracey Brown is the Director of Sense About Science, a charity that campaigns for better evidence in public debate and policy making in the UK and worldwide through international collaboration. She has led award-winning national campaigns to defend sound research and to stop misleading medical claims, and has contributed to books and journals on science, policy and the public. Tracey comments regularly in newspapers, magazines, events and broadcasts.	Paul Smith is the founder of VCM, a charity that works with over 20,000 young people every year. He sings with VOCES8 and is the CEO of the charity. He is a passionate educationalist and musician. His first book on music education, the VOCES8 Method, is published by Edition Peters. In 2013, VCM launched the Gresham Centre in London, a new centre for vocal music and outreach in the heart of the City of London.	Daniela De Rosa was born in Milan, studied Classics in high-school and has a degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures at Catholic University of Milan. She started working in PR and media agencies, publishing houses, TV programs. When she turned 30, she decided that her real dream was to become a journalist. She then worked for ‘Il Giornale’, whose editor-in-chief was the late Indro Montanelli, one of the most reputable journalist in Italy.
Daniel Evans is a keynote and after-dinner speaker to Rotary Clubs, the Woman’s Institute, Schools and Colleges across the country. He has also spoken at various Geographical Association events and at the Royal Geographical Society. Recently, he was awarded the Ivan Palfrey Trophy for services towards the wider geographical community.	Katy began exhibiting her work at the age of 16 while studying in the south of France. Her first major achievements included her debut solo exhibition at the Yacht Club of Monaco followed by several further exhibitions in Moscow. Her achievements progress enormously to this day where only several weeks ago she was featured in the 5th edition of 'Worlds Greatest Erotic Art of Today' as well as being selected as the 'Best of show' by the Colors of Humanities Art Gallery.	Lena Blos was born and raised in rural Germany, where she diplayed an interest in literature, travel and culture from an early age on. She graduated from grammar school in 2010 and decided to cancel studying medicine and dedicate the following years to travelling around Southeast Asia to gain new perspectives on life. Successful completion of a TEFL course in May 2011, led to a two year stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand as an English Teacher for a private Thai school.
Kate Russell is a journalist, reporter and author who has been writing about gaming, technology and the Internet since 1995. Best known for weekly appearances on BBC technology programme 'Click', she is a frequent face on TV, radio and in magazines as a technology expert, with regular columns in The National Geographic Traveller and BBC Focus. She is author of two books; 'Working the Cloud', a business book about the internet and 'Elite: Mostly Harmless', her debut science fiction novel.	Jeffrey DeMarco has spent a great deal of time in recent years focusing on some key issues surrounding the evolution of terrorism in a post 9/11 world. Following the heinous murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in south London; the attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Shopping Complex. Also he has served as a voice on national and international television discussing self-radicalisation, issues with incongruent ideologies and problems with foreign policy, from a psychological perspective.	Edward Heywood pursued his undergraduate degree at Queen Mary University where, in his final year, he co-founded 'Urban Cloud' – the social network fighting for your right to online privacy alongside his cofounders Peregrine Park and Sharan Soni. Since its inception they have raised £150k in seed capital for the business; exhibited at Web Summit (one of the world’s largest tech conferences); orchestrated 10 strategic partnerships and have taken part in the Founders Space accelerator.
Marco Poletto is an architect, author and educator. He now leads the BIO Urban Design Research Cluster at the Bartlett School of Architecture, focused on development of bio-inspired urban design strategies and bottom-up material and energetic infrastructures. Over the past few years Marco has been Unit Master at the Architectural Association in London, Senior Tutor at the IAAC in Barcelona and Visiting Critic at Cornell University.	Marko Pajević is Senior Lecturer at the School for Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Royal Holloway, University of London. He studied Comparative Literature, Philosophy and Slavic Studies in Munich, Berlin and Paris and was awarded a PhD in Paris and Berlin. He also completed a habilitation in France. Before taking up the post in London, he taught German studies at the Sorbonne, Paris IV, and Queen’s University Belfast.