TEDxTrinityCollegeDublin

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Alex Denning

  Alex Denning is a professional GT Racing driver with over 18 years competition experience. In 2022, he became the Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of The Year. In 2025, he became the first ever official Lamborghini Driver for Ireland after winning the Lamborghini Asia Pro Championship. He has a BA in Business and Economics from Trinity College Dublin and has a driver academy business teaching the younger generation about sponsorship acquisitions and managing their careers.

• Bhadra Panicker

  Bhadra Panicker is a Law and Business student at Trinity College Dublin. As a Laidlaw Scholar, she conducted research on miscarriages of justice against women, developing her passion for feminist jurisprudence. Her work combines academic work with practical engagement to platform conversations about achieving equality and empowerment in the law.

• Blú Hanley

  Blú Hanley is Head of Lighting at The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art, Trinity College Dublin. She holds a Bachelor’s in Irish, Psychology and Theatre, a Masters in Translation Studies and a Master of Fine Arts in Stage Design. Blú began her technical career as an interlingual Surtitler for Irish-language theatre. From there she pivoted to Lighting Technician, and then Lighting Designer. What fuels great art? While both roles remain close to her, recent work in Senegal brought to light a deeper symbiotic relationship. Advances in technology can stimulate and motivate new forms of artistic expression. In this realm technicians become creative problem-solving collaborators.

• Brian Barry

  Dr Brian Barry is Associate Professor at the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin. Brian teaches and supervises students in AI regulation and AI for legal systems. His research investigates ways to make courts and judicial decision-making work better for court users, particularly through technology. His current focus is experimental research on how design features of AI for courts affect people’s trust in judicial processes. He was recently awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Award (value €2 million) for a project called JUDGEASSIST to pursue this research. Brian is author of How Judges Judge: Empirical Insights into Judicial Decision-Making (Informa Law from Routledge, 2021), and co-editor of The Digital Judge (forthcoming from Edward Elgar). Before legal academia, Brian briefly practised as a commercial litigation solicitor in a leading Dublin law firm.

• Colman Noctor

  Dr Colman Noctor is a Mental Health Lecturer in SETU Waterford and a Psychoanalytical Psychotherapist. His doctoral research was a psychodynamic exploration of online sharing and he has had a specialist interest in the impact of technology on our mental lives. Colman has written two bestselling books, is a weekly columnist with the Irish Examiner and a regular contributor to print and broadcast media. He is the host of the Asking for a Parent podcast and part of the expert team designing the new Rising Minds program being rolled out in secondary schools as part of the A Lust for Life mental health charity. Colman has spoken at many national and international conferences and his engaging style is informative in relation to the impact of the technological world on our mental lives and relationships.

• Eimear Nolan

  Eimear is an Associate Professor of International Business at Trinity Business School and the Founder and Director of Trinity’s Flexible Executive MBA Programme. She is actively involved in industry–academic engagement with private and government organisations, contributing her expertise on cultural understanding and global leadership. Eimear holds a PhD in International Management from the University of Limerick, where she examined the cultural adaptation of internationally trained doctors in Ireland. She serves as Co-Country Investigator for Ireland and the UK in the GLOBE Project, a major global study of culture and leadership. Eimear is also the host of “Culture Shocked with Dr Eimear Nolan” and “Meducation Unlocked,” the podcast of the Academy of Management’s Management Education and Development Division. Her research explores cultural understanding, AI, management learning, international HRM, and healthcare management.

• Evie Kramer

  Evie is a History and Political Science student at Trinity College Dublin and a Laidlaw scholar. Her academic studies focus on public policy, international relations, and human rights, and she’s interested in how political and social structures shape opportunity and collective behaviour. Evie was a founding member of the Trinity Policy Journal, serves on the Society for International Affairs committee, and helps lead the Surf Society. While conducting research last year on gendered language and its impact on democratic engagement in Ireland, she became increasingly curious about how individual emotions interact with broader social systems. In her TEDx talk today, Evie invites us to rethink jealousy, success, and opportunity, and to consider how personal ambition operates within the social networks we share.

• Ishna Tripathi

  Ishna is a Junior Sophister studying Physics and Astrophysics and a Laidlaw Scholar at Trinity College Dublin. Over the summer, she conducted research under Professor Johanna Vos, investigating the possibility of exomoons around brown dwarfs using data from the James Webb Space Telescope. Her research project, “Cloudy with a Chance of Exomoons,” has been accepted for publication in F1000Research by Taylor & Francis Group, contributing to our understanding of planetary systems beyond the Solar System. Alongside her academic work, Ishna is deeply engaged in leadership and science communication. She has held multiple roles within the Trinity Physics Society, editor at Trinity News and a member of Trinity’s social media team. With over seven years of experience in public speaking and debating, she is passionate about bridging science and society, and inspiring curiosity about humanity’s place in the universe.

• Jane Stout

  Jane is Professor of Ecology in the School of Natural Sciences, and is the Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action at Trinity College Dublin. Her expertise is in the fields of ecology and biodiversity, and in connecting human and natural ecosystems, particularly through urban and agricultural land management, and the Natural Capital approach. Jane is an internationally renowned expert on pollinator and pollination ecology, and a prominent voice for biodiversity and its value. She co-founded the successful conservation initiative, the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and not-for-profit Natural Capital Ireland, and is the President of the Royal Entomological Society.

• Laurent Muzellec

  Laurent Muzellec is the Dean of Trinity Business School at Trinity College Dublin and a scholar whose work explores digital transformation. As Dean, he has overseen initiatives promoting fairness and transparency within a diverse academic community, giving him practical insight into how inclusion is implemented on the ground. He is a keen advocate for access programs based on socio-economic criteria such as the Trinity Access Program. Having lived and worked in the USA and multiple European contexts, Muzellec has a background in political science. This vantage point informs his argument that Europe needs its own approach to social cohesion, rooted in its universalist traditions and civic values.

• Linda Djougang

  Linda was born in Cameroon and raised in Ireland, where she discovered rugby at the age of 19. Her introduction to the sport marked the beginning of a remarkable journey defined by determination, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to growth. Linda joined Leinster Rugby in 2015 and, through sheer dedication and hard work, earned her first cap for Ireland in 2019. Alongside her sporting career, Linda pursued a career in nursing, balancing the demands of a challenging healthcare profession with the rigors of elite-level rugby. She completed a Master’s in Sport Management at UCD, combining academic knowledge with practical experience to understand the broader structures and professionalisation of sport in Ireland. Linda’s journey reflects not only athletic excellence but also leadership, adaptability, and the ability to navigate complex challenges. Off the pitch, she is passionate about mentoring, empowering the next generation of athletes, and advocating for women in sport.

• Lory Kehoe

  Lory Kehoe is a European fintech and digital assets executive. He serves as EU Director at Aave Labs and is CEO of Push Ireland, an EU-regulated digital asset entity focused on building compliant bridges between traditional finance and blockchain-based systems under Europe’s evolving regulatory frameworks. Lory is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Trinity Business School and a PhD researcher focused on the emergence of blockchain entrepreneurial ecosystems. His academic work examines how new technology sectors form, scale, and integrate into existing economic systems. Lory held leadership roles at Coinbase, BNY Mellon, ConsenSys, and Deloitte, where he worked across digital assets, financial innovation, and institutional market development. He is also Founder and Chair of Blockchain Ireland supporting collaboration between startups, multinationals, policymakers, and researchers to grow Ireland’s blockchain ecosystem.

• Na Fu

  Professor Na Fu is a leader in shaping how organisations and societies adapt to intelligent technologies. As Chair of Responsible Leadership and Director of the Trinity AI XR Lab, she builds real-world testbeds where AI, immersive technologies, and human capability development converge. Her work across Europe, Australia, and Asia focuses on one fundamental question: how do we design futures where people and technology advance together? Through EU research programmes, cross-sector partnerships, and innovative teaching, she examines how human-tech skill complementarity unlocks performance, trust, and resilience in workplaces undergoing rapid digital change.

• Neasa Nic Corcráin

  Neasa is a 2025 Laidlaw Scholar and an Environmental Science and Engineering student at Trinity College Dublin. Her research investigates the presence of heavy metals in menstrual hygiene products and their potential impacts on reproductive health. This work was selected for presentation at Brown University and publication by Taylor and Francis. She is a committed advocate for women in STEM and has been recognised with the Three Ireland Connect to STEM Scholarship and the Johnson & Johnson Women in STEM2D Award. Alongside her research, she is deeply engaged in science communication through visual media. She has worked with Trinity News for the past three years as a photographer, videographer, and social media manager, Through her work, she aims to make science visible, inclusive, and impossible to ignore.

• Olamide Obadina

  Olamide is a Trinity First Class Global Business graduate, DEI researcher, and emerging voice on entrepreneurship, equity, and systems change. She is a DEI Laidlaw Scholar and a JP McManus All Ireland Scholar. Much of her work is shaped by a curiosity about who our systems are designed to serve…and who they leave behind. Olamide explores how entrepreneurship shape access to opportunity. Through research, consulting, and leadership roles, she has examined the often-invisible structures behind female leadership, access to capital, and network advantage and how these forces quietly determine outcomes. Her work challenges traditional diversity approaches, focusing on redesign over representation, showing that inclusion requires new frameworks, clearer metrics, and honest conversations about power. She is deeply involved in community-building and mentorship. Through research and storytelling, Olamide argues that change happens when systems are redesigned, not merely diversified.

• Ronika Chakrabarti

  Ronika is an internationally published academic, ethnographer, and thought leader serving as Associate Professor in Marketing at Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin. Her work focuses on market creation and preservation in contexts of poverty, with research spanning the Lakota Nations of North America, the tribal communities of East Africa, and the Sundarbans of West Bengal India. Beyond academia, she is a Sundancer and was honoured with a Lakota name by Chief Black Spotted Horse in the Black Hills, South Dakota. Through her scholarship and lived practice, Dr. Chakrabarti embodies the courage to “fearlessly pursue truth and knowledge” — reimagining business as a force for harmony between people and planet.

• Wen Wan Wang-Whelan

  Dr. Wen Wan Wang-Whelan is a creative psychotherapist whose path to the therapy room began long before she knew it. With a PhD in neuroscience, Wen once studied how learning and memory shape the brain — work that quietly prepared her for a very different journey. That journey unfolded while finishing her PhD, when she became a mother to her first child, Alex, who has Down syndrome. Motherhood didn’t just change her life; it transformed her understanding of growth, resilience, and what it means to truly meet another person where they are. It led her from the lab into the world of play therapy. Wen believes our training never leaves us — it evolves with us. Today, she integrates science, creativity, and deep empathy to support children and families, while championing community approaches to well-being. Guided by the principles of slowing down, noticing small joys, and celebrating every step forward, Wen invites us to see the gifts hidden in life’s unexpected paths.