This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In her talk Mai-Thi Nguyen-Kim wants to show us how to make science cool. She is the winner of "Spotlight@TEDxBerlin", a contest amongst students and recent graduates in cooperation with careerloft.
Mai-Thi Nguyen-Kim is a PhD student at 'DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials' in Aachen, Germany. She studied chemistry at the University of Mainz and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
While she works on creating smart materials for biomedical use in her research, she has a particular passion for science communication. She was a finalist at the Falling Walls Lab in 2012 and she is a regular contestant at science slams, science-analogs of poetry slams, which are increasingly popular in Germany. She also organized and hosted 'Nerd Nite' in Aachen, a popular-science event with a surrounding global community, which was founded in Boston. In her most unconventional approach to science communication she made a hip hop dance video explaining her research. Since she is a member of the hip hop performance group of RWTH Aachen University, she and her dance troupe put together a video called 'Dancing Drug Delivery', which was the winner of the contest 'Forscher tanzen' in 2013.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)