By Peter Townson
Staff Reporter
The eagerly anticipated opening session of the first ever TEDx Summit in Doha took place at the Katara amphitheatre on Monday night, when members of the public as well as invited guests from all over the world were treated to a selection of presentations outlining ‘ideas worth spreading.’
The first edition of the TEDx Summit, which opened at Katara amphitheatre on Monday night. Right: Iranian American comedian, Maz Jobrani during his speech
The evening featured a wide range of speakers and performers, from local government officials to European experts speaking about subjects including food security, the use of solar technology for a cleaner and more energy efficient future, and the relationship between religion and the number of births per female around the world, among other topics.
HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani welcomed the guests to the event as she addressed the sellout crowd at the amphitheatre via video call.
She expressed her excitement at hosting the first TEDx summit here in Qatar which she described as a meeting place for people and cultures from all over the world.
And the meeting of cultures was a theme which ran throughout the entire evening, with international experts from all corners of the globe describing their ‘big ideas’ and also outlining the importance of TED and TEDx events.
The evening was curated by European director of TED, Bruno Giussani and was streamed to an online audience of viewers around the world.
The first speaker was the engaging and interesting Indian artist, Raghava KK, who talked about his ‘200-year plan’ and other insights into how to curate our own experiences and memories.
Curator of manuscripts and rare books at the Walters Art Museum, William Noel, argued that there should be no restrictions on the sharing of such documents and research online, claiming that removing such limitations would make the Internet more relevant and more rewarding for everybody involved.
Maz Jobrani, the Iranian-American comedian who toured as part of the ‘Axis of Evil’ group, received one of the strongest reactions from the audience, both before and after his talk, in which he highlighted the importance of events such as TEDx in eliminating misunderstandings between different cultures.
He spoke about some of the misconceptions which he has seen and heard during his experiences as an Iranian-American and argued that the ability of all cultures to laugh and enjoy life is something of which people from all over the world should be reminded and which should be celebrated.
Jordanian musician, Zain Awad, provided the musical entertainment for the evening, and also showcased diversity by performing European classical, Arabic and Western popular music, all with skill and beauty.
Three of the night’s presentations focused on local issues, including a speech from the chairman of the National Food Security Programme, Fahad bin Mohammed al-Attiya, who spoke eloquently about the challenges facing the country as it continues to grow while lacking any source of water other than desalination.
Nerim Ozlap, from Texas A&M University in Qatar, spoke about her pioneering research into a more environmentally friendly, economically viable and energy efficient way of processing natural gas, solar cracking, a reactor for which she has developed through research being funded by Qatar Foundation and is currently being prepared for commericalisation in Germany.
Physicist and director of Transsolar, Wolfgang Kessling, then outlined the technology behind cooling the stadia for the successful World Cup 2022.
He spoke about the difference between perceived temperature and air temperature, referring to various sporting events to have taken place around the world and explaining how soft conditioning, radiant technology and shading will be employed to cool the players and fans during the summer World Cup.
TEDx speaker and history teacher, Diana Laufenberg, gave a presentation on how speaking at a TEDx event can be a life changing experience, noting how the current online community makes sharing ideas a much easier task in modern society.
One of the most inspiring moments of the evening came from Iraqi speaker, Yahay Alabdeli, who described his experience as the organiser of TEDx Baghdad. Throughout the re-telling of his story, he had the audience cheering his efforts which led to many Iraqi refugees returning to their home country for the first time, and inspired a sense of hope and excitement in many of the 650-strong community which attended.
Another highlight of the evening was the final speaker, Hans Rosling, who is one of TED’s most popular guests due to his dynamic style.
Rosling spoke about the relationship between economic development and birth rates, arguing that despite perceptions, religion has no impact on the number of babies per female around the world.
