TEDxUniversity of Birmingham Dubai

Speakers

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

• Aaditya Rajesh

  Aaditya is a student in his final year, with a habit of turning ordinary moments into bigger questions. He is driven by the search for meaning in the everyday. Today he's taking on a question a friend asked him once and couldn't let go of.

• Aamir Renzy Jamal

  In this compelling talk, the speaker, a BSc Economics student, unfolds the concept of failure as a precious gift to be embraced. Drawing lessons from J.K. Rowling and Steve Jobs, the talk highlights failure's role in teaching valuable lessons and building resilience. Using metaphors like a baby rattle and a deflating balloon, the speaker emphasizes humility and expanded perspectives. The discussion extends to how failure sparks innovation, referencing James Dyson's perseverance. Wrapping up the metaphorical box as a gift, the speaker leaves the audience with a transformative perspective: "Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn."

• Alwin Kallely Jose

  A Year 3 Economics student at the University of Birmingham Dubai, he is exactly the kind of person you'd expect to question everything and then surprise you with the answer. Living independently, far from home, he has spent the last three years doing what economists do best: running the numbers on life. And somewhere between the data, the late nights, and the quiet moments of figuring out who he is without the people who made him, he arrived at the most unexpected conclusion of his academic career. A natural leader, avid quizzer, and UPSC aspirant with a track record of showing up, in classrooms, in boardrooms, and on stage, he brings the same curiosity to ideas that he brings to everything else. His journey has been one of identity, of distance, and of realizing that the thing he travelled furthest from was the thing that mattered most. His family.

• Amaan Iqbal Ibrahim

  Amaan Iqbal Ibrahim is an award-winning speaker, clinical psychologist-in-training, leadership, and youth advocate based in the United Arab Emirates, currently pursuing his Master's in Clinical Psychology at the University of Birmingham Dubai, where he founded TEDx University of Birmingham Dubai in 2024. Known for blending storytelling, humour, emotional honesty, and psychological insight, Amaan’s speaking style is deeply personal and reflective, often exploring the hidden emotional worlds people quietly carry within them. His work draws from lived experience as much as academia, shaped by his background in Clinical Psychology and his years working in leadership and capability development. He is the recipient of the International Diana Legacy Award for Social Work and the Sharjah Award for Volunteer Work, and has been recognised for his contributions to youth leadership, mentoring, and public speaking. Beyond the stage, he works extensively in coaching and mental health advocacy.

• Faris Abubaker

  Strategy and Marketing Leader | Ecosystem Builder

• Jerzen Benny

  Jerzen is a doctor who took the long way around. After graduating from medical school, he traded the wards for a healthcare startup in Dubai — then chose medicine again, this time on his own terms. Now pursuing a pediatric residency, he believes the most meaningful choices are the ones we stop making by default.

• Moiz Fattani

  Moiz Fattani is a Dubai-based student speaker and creative strategist passionate about challenging conventional ideas of success. With experience across finance, media, content, and startup growth, his journey reflects the realities of navigating identity, ambition, and uncertainty in today’s world. Through his TEDx talk, Moiz explores how growth is shaped not by one defining decision, but through repeated choices, mistakes, and the courage to create your own path.

• Raisa Anvar Raseena

  As someone who values clarity over comfort, Raisa is taking the stage to deconstruct the 'nice' disguise. Her talk is a wake-up call to stop editing our thoughts, stop fearing conflict, and finally get back to the unedited version of ourselves.

• Rayana Suleman

  Graduating with a BSc in Psychology, Ive spent the last few years turning academic insight into honest, human conversation. I explore mental health experiences that define our generation, from social comparison to the subtle ways our upbringing shapes who we become.

• Rinaaz Sulthana

  Rinaaz is a recent high school graduate who once had a sketchbook, a camera, and a growing list of things she'd get to eventually. Most of them are still waiting. Currently in the in-between — somewhere after the finish line that never arrived and before whatever comes next — she is slowly figuring out what it means to feel like herself again. A storyteller at heart, she returns to the TEDx stage for her second talk, this time with something more personal to say.

• Sarah Sidney Pereira

  Sarah Pereira is a third-year Aerospace Engineering student who spends equal time studying the mechanics of flight and the mechanics of how the world misses what is right in front of it. Her TEDx talk asks a simple but uncomfortable question: if the next crisis is already visible in the culture, why do we keep being surprised? From the underground economy to grassroots movements to the music of revolutions, this talk traces the signals that were always there, spoken by the people nobody thought to ask.

• Sudev Sudheer

  Sudev is a final year Money, Banking and Finance student who is taking the TEDx stage because he mispronounced a word in seventh grade and, apparently, never fully got over it. The talk is about identity. The therapy is ongoing, but he might finally have an idea of what lies beyond it.

• Tarai Tariro Makawa

  Tarai Makawa is a lawyer, storyteller, and curious observer of human experience whose work explores identity, ambition, resilience, and what it means to grow beyond the lives we once imagined for ourselves. Having built a career in law through determination and perseverance, she now uses her voice to reflect on the intersections between achievement, reinvention, and personal expansion. Her TED Talk, Beyond², was inspired by solo travels across Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Seoul, and Tokyo, where moments of uncertainty, kindness, and cultural connection challenged the narrow definitions of success she once held. Through deeply personal storytelling, she invites audiences to rethink the idea of “arrival” and embrace the continual process of becoming.

• Yahia Ghaleb

  Yahia Ghaleb is an MSc Clinical Psychology student at University of Birmingham Dubai fascinated by the complexity of human experience and the processes that shape distress, healing, and recovery. Influenced by Humanistic and Existential Psychology, Yahia believes in a more compassionate, relational, and holistic vision of mental health care ; one that looks beyond rigid labels and reductionistic understandings of psychological distress. Through clinical training, research, and reflective practice, he hopes to contribute to conversations that humanise mental health struggles, embrace complexity, and deepen the way people understand both themselves and one another. Outside of psychology, he’s a huge bookworm who enjoys meaningful conversations, travelling, and rewatching Friends and Grey's Anatomy.

• Youssef Elderiny

  Youssef is a software engineer, reflective thinker, and lifelong student of human behavior, discipline, and meaning. Drawing from personal experiences navigating faith, self-improvement, and modern life, he explores the tension between who we aspire to become and what actually sustains lasting change. His work and interests sit at the intersection of technology, philosophy, psychology, and spirituality, with a focus on intentional living in an age of distraction. Through honest storytelling and practical insight, Youssef challenges the idea that transformation is purely an act of willpower, and invites audiences to rethink what truly shapes identity, purpose, and resilience.