Inaugural “TEDxOakRidge” event features eclectic mix of topics

As noted in this recent teknovation.biz article, the inaugural “TEDxOakRidge” event attracted about 50 people to the Albert Einstein Amphitheater at Ts117 Modern Coworking Tuesday night.

Thanks to organizer Daniel Hodge, I had the privilege of joining three other individuals for what can only be described as an eclectic set of topics. Mine was on the city’s 75-year history of entrepreneurship and two current programs – “Innovation Crossroads” and the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education, a joint initiative with the University of Tennessee – that are bringing young, dynamic entrepreneurs to the community.

The three other presenters were Lindsey Lieb, who described her latest start-up venture named Happego (see our recent teknovation.biz article); Michael Weller, a Physicist and Experimental Plasma Diagnostician with Proton Scientific who described some of the cutting edge work the company is doping in fusion; and Justin West who brought his passion for the environment and sustainability to the group in a talk titled “Closed Loop Agricultural Design: The Boon Project.”

Ahead of the start of the talks, we chatted with Rick Chinn of R & R Properties who said that occupancy in the facility at 701 Scarboro Road has grown to 42 percent which exceeds their projections after just a few months of operation.

Pictured here are Weller (right) and Lieb.