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Seizing the opportunity to exchange innovative ideas, Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi announced its inaugural TEDx event on Monday, 29th April 2013 at the university campus.
The first TEDxPSUAD featured the theme, ’It’s your time, not ours’, and the event aimed to acquaint students with the powerful concept of ideas worth spreading.
The theme reinforces the message that your time is limited, so follow your passion like never before, harness opportunities, and keep challenging yourself.
Charles Soll, organiser of TEDxPSUAD said, "I think it’s very important to have events like TEDx at universities. Not only does it allow for learning beyond the classroom, it also allows students to listen to a very impressive group of people at one event."
TED stands for ’technology, entertainment and design’ and TEDx implies independently-organised local events designed to activate positive change and stimulate dialogue. Progressive thinking is the focus of every TEDx event and this has proven to be a catalyst in global communities.
Prof. Dr. Eric Fouache, Vice-Chancellor of Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, said, "We are highly pleased to host the first TEDxPSUAD as events like this don’t just offer boundless inspiration, they also lead to amazing connections. Stories matter and by sharing them, they become even more potent and invaluable. We hope our students and the audience will be positively motivated to convert ideas into action through the power of personal narratives at TEDxPSUAD."
From 7 - 9pm, the event featured a spate of inspiring speakers and go-getters from a wide range of fields and includes entrepreneurs, media presenters, adventurers, and creatives, who all talked about their exciting ideas and what spurred them to go the extra mile to achieve their dreams.
Murshed Al Remeithi, a student at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi added, "I decided to help organize TEDxPSUAD because I think more events like this are needed throughout the UAE. The speakers for this year’s event were all amazing and I, myself, am very excited to have listened to their talks."
The line-up of speakers included entrepreneur Alia Al Mazrui, creator of Just Falafel who talked about how to balance work and starting a business on the side whilst Dubai One’s Omar Butti chatted about International Affairs.
The event also featured Buthaina Al Mazrui, an executive council employee, and Alamira Noor Bani Hashim, an employee at Masdar who both created The Dinner Club and spoke about how to turn ideas into reality.
Other speakers included former engineer and writer, Kathy Shalhoub; a motivational speaker Jules Lewis; graphic designer, Julia Selinger; principal architect and founder of X-architects, Farid Esmaeil, and Adila Nasser, a karate champion and the first Emirati woman to travel to both the North Pole and South Pole.
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