Sceleb | Nina Tandon

Nina Tandon is an American electrical and biomedical engineer. She currently conducts research at Columbia University's Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering and is an adjunct professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union.

Tandon received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Electrical Engineering in 2001, an MS in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 2006, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia in 2009 for which she studied electrical stimulation in cardiac tissue engineering. She was also a Fulbright Scholar in Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy between 2003 and 2004 where she researched electronic odor detection. Tandon was a Columbia and MIT Presidential Fellow and she was chosen as a Ted Fellow in 2011. Avocations include drums, photography, yoga, running, metalsmithing, playing with puppies, baking, and exploring. How she finds time to do all this, we have no idea but we are thrilled to have her among our most creative and inspiring Scelebs.

Tod Machover: Hyper-instruments, Robotic Operas, and Guitar Hero

Tod Machover, an American composer and inventor, works in cutting-edge music technology at MIT's Media Lab  and it was recently profiled by The Economist. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles was the inspiration behind his work on hyperinstruments, which are 'smart' instruments that interpret and enhance the music played on them. The album was too complex to play live and hyperinstruments, like the one he built for Prince, enable musicians to more fully realize their musical vision live.

In his 20 years in the Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group, Machover has also worked on developing technology that enables non-musicians and disabled persons to compose and perform music through physical gestures and vocalizations. As you may have guessed, he's been a speaker at TED on his inventive work. His latest project is a robotic opera that visualizes the sound and movement of performers on robotic walls that move and display animated visuals.

Perhaps Machover's most widely-used technology is the one that was instrumental to the development of Guitar Hero.  BP

Ahn Trio at TED

The Ahn Trio is made up of three sensational sisters: cellist Maria, pianist Lucia, and violinist Angella and together they are taking the classical world by storm. Thoroughly a 'contemporary trio' they truly are shaping the future of music in many ways, not the least of which by working with artists from across musical and other disciplines ranging from dancers and DJs to ecologists and kite makers. Below is there latest performance at the 2011 TEDWomen conference.

Sceleb | Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is an American professor, author, and advocate for animal rights and autism. She was born in Boston, MA, to Richard Grandin and Eustacia Cutler. Grandin was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4 in 1951 which made her school years quite challenging but it also became a motivating element of her life, research, and advocacy work.

Grandin received her B.A. at Frankin Pierce College in 1970, her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University in 1975, and her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Grandin has also received honorary doctorates from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph and Duke University. She currently teaches livestock behavior and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on the same topics. Grandin's work in animal behavior has revolutionized the livestock industry around the world by changing the way livestock are handled in order to reduce stress. Grandin's work also proved valuable in human behavior and she is also well known as the creator of the squeeze machine used to calm hypersensitive people.

Grandin has appeared on many TV shows including 20/20, 48 Hours, Larry King Live, PrimeTime Live, the Today Show, as well as being featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines that include Discover, Forbes, People, Time, the New York Times, and U.S. News and World Report. In 2010, she was a TED speaker and Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Grandin herself has authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals and eight books with Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human both making the New York Times best seller list.

>> 2010 TED Talk - The world needs all kinds of minds
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