TEDxYouth@HABS

On Monday 4 July 2022, we were excited to hold the first-ever TEDxYouth@HABS  event, in which students, teachers and respected external speakers were able to speak about Innovation in our world today: the theme of our first TEDx event. Click here to view the TEDxYouth@HABS homepage.

The world is changing rapidly, and innovation shapes our world. TEDxYouth@HABS focused on the applications of innovation across all subject areas, hoping to inspire the leaders of tomorrow!

Students in Year 12 were very fortunate to listen to seven TEDxYouth@HABS talks: one student, three teachers and three subject experts who were all Imperial College London researchers. We are very grateful for all the speakers who delivered these insightful talks to our students, especially to the external speakers who made time in their busy schedules to deliver these TEDx talks.

What is TEDx?

TEDx is a grassroots initiative, created in the spirit of TED’s overall mission to research and discover “ideas worth spreading.” TEDx brings the spirit of TED to local communities around the globe through TEDx events. These events are organized by passionate individuals who seek to uncover new ideas and share the latest research in their local areas that spark conversations in their communities.

TEDxYouth@HABS was independently organised and held in front of a live audience and was also filmed and edited by Habs students.

All of the talks from TEDxYouth@HABS are now hosted on the TED website and the TEDx YouTube channel and can be watched by many thousands of people across the globe.

Dr Nikhil Shah – OH (1992 to 2003), CEO of S-Cube

Deep Tech Entrepreneurship – five things you need to know

Nikhil Shah studied Maths at Cambridge and a PhD at Imperial College. He co-founded Imperial spinout S-Cube in 2019 with his doctorate supervisor (Prof. Mike Warner). He was at Habs from 1992-2003 where his interest in maths, technology and entrepreneurship began.

This talk by Dr Shah covers the key steps for Entrepreneurship, linking in his own personal journey to become the CEO of S-Cube. 

Yash Shah – A Level student, School Vice Captain

A brain-to-brain loop: a computer science and healthcare story

Yash Shah is an A Level student at Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science. Having a keen interest in the interdisciplinary nature of technology, Yash has developed his passion in exploring the real-life applications of computer science that make a difference in society. Apart from computer science, Yash is interested in cycling, music, cricket and photography!

In this talk, Yash explores the discovery of computational neural networks using the knowledge of the human brain, and shows how Artificial Intelligence is the single one innovation that is helping to change lives around the world. He also illustrates the incredible contributions of machine learning algorithms to solve our world’s greatest challenges. He hopes to further explore the power of computer science applications in society as he pursues his education in university and beyond. 

Yash founded and organised the first TEDxYouth@HABS event in 2022, with a hope to spark curiosity and innovation within the school community.

Dr C Gannarelli – Senior Tutor (Middle School) and Teacher of Physics

The Promise of Quantum Computing

In this talk, Dr Gannarelli discusses the promise offered by quantum computing, and some of the current and prospective proposals for their creation. Before moving into teaching, Dr Gannarelli was a postdoctoral research fellow with UCL’s Condensed Matter and Materials Physics research group, and the London Centre for Nanotechnology. In this latter role, he studied the origins of very long lived excitations of magnetic actinide salts, to explore their potential to create a revolutionary new type of quantum computer.

Mr Paul West – Commercial Lead at S-Cube

Breakthrough Imaging Technology: Storing and Monitoring CO2 underground

Paul has many years of experience in the seismic services sector. Having worked across the globe for industry leading technology companies and innovative smaller enterprises. He is now based in London with S-Cube,  working with industry and research partners to solve the most complex sub-surface modelling challenges with cloud-native, advanced formulations of waveform inversion.

In this talk, Paul speaks about how waveform inversion can be applied to storing and monitoring CO2 in the earth.

Mr J Plotkin – Director of Partnerships and Teacher of English

How to be a citizen: one neat trick to be a world leader

Mr Plotkin is Director of Partnerships at Habs, building long-term, sustainable partnerships with local schools and organisations, which aim to provide educational opportunity for the wider community beyond the Habs gates. He is also an English teacher.

In this talk, combining his twin passions of literature and partnerships, Mr Plotkin gives you one neat trick to be a world leader.

Mr Anish Phillips – Business analyst at S-Cube

Breakthrough Imaging Technology: Storing/Monitoring CO2 underground

Anish is a Petroleum and Mining Engineer working in the Business Development team at S-Cube. In his role, Anish mainly focuses on applications of S-Cube’s expertise in creating Algorithmic solutions to aid with the Energy Transition. This has allowed him to work quite closely with another Imperial College spin-out called About:Energy that specialises in the testing and modeling of batteries. Previously he worked in the mining and petroleum industries in Australia, notably with leading service provider Schlumberger who used his expertise to aid in the successful drilling of numerous unconventional gas wells in central Australia. Since moving to the UK in December 2021, Anish has been enjoying all that the UK has to offer with most weekends being taken up by playing touch rugby with the EY London vipers and pick-up football games. Outside of that Anish enjoys camping, fishing, hanging out with friends and going to sporting events.

In this talk, Anish explores how using batteries better can help us create a sustainable future through electrification. From the energy transition, to grid storage, to energy trading: this talk demonstrates how batteries are critical for a green future. 

Mr M Broadwith – Teacher of Mathematics and Head of the Russells House at Habs

Mike Hall and The Transcontinental – Innovation in Cycling

Mr M Broadwith is known as a long-distance specialist, having won the National 24 Hour time trial no less than three times, with distances up to 530 miles. Not only this, but his fantastic record for the “End to End”: Land’s End to John O’Groats was completed on 17th June 2018 in a staggering time of 43 hours, 25 minutes and 13 seconds. Mr Broadwith speaks about Innovation in Sports and a journey through cycling history, specifically The Transcontinental Race.

Feedback:

“Excellent series of talks by interesting speakers and a professionally ran event, I would love to see another TEDxYouth@HABS event and would definitely recommend” ~ TEDxYouth@HABS audience member

“Lovely event with great speakers and enjoyed the overall experience.” ~ another audience member

TEDxYouth@HABS Team

Founder and Chairman – Yash Shah

“This TEDxYouth@HABS event was an idea I wanted to bring to Habs in order to spark innovative conversations within all the students, and inspire the Habs community to make a difference to society. For me, it was an absolutely fantastic experience to organise the first TEDx event at Habs, from applying for a TED license to even preparing the 3D TEDx Stage letters! I am so grateful to all the teachers who supported me deliver this TEDx event, and I want to especially thank Mrs Lyons and Mr Ovia for their constant encouragement. I very much hope that this TEDxYouth@HABS event is the first of many to come in the future years, where we can share knowledge with the Habs community through these insightful and profound talks.” – Message from Yash

Teacher organising team: Thank you very much to Mr Ovia, Mrs Lyons, Mr Plotkin, Mr Sykes, and Mr Simm

Thank you to the teachers who spoke at the TEDx event: Mr Plotkin, Mr Broadwith, Dr Gannarelli

Thank you to the guest speakers for your time and talks: Dr Nikhil Shah, Mr Paul West, Mr Anish Phillips

Event filming and logistics: Suleman Hussain, Noah Arram, Ollie Cheng, Jakey Conway, Josh Zinkin, Yash Shah

Lower Sixth prefects: Sanjit Naique, Daniel Albert, Bruno Scoggins

Special thanks to Suleman Hussain for editing the TEDx videos. And thank you to the wonderful ICT Support Team at Habs (Billy Hulatt and Samit Chauhan)

Stage setup: Music department, Mr Richard Hammond

This independent TEDxYouth@HABS event is operated under a license from TED.