We would like to acknowledge and congratulate the following FIU alumni for being selected as 2014 TEDxFIU speakers! This year’s event, Fearless Journey, will take place on November 13, 2014. The event will be live streamed at TEDxFIU.com.
Global Philanthropist Doug Jefferies ’89
Doug Jefferies ’89 is an entrepreneur and a philanthropist who has devoted his time to helping the people of Haiti. His non-profit organization, Mission Results, allows individuals to safely volunteer on the ground in places where help is needed most. His relief work began in Sri Lanka following the 2005 tsunami and continues today in Haiti, where he has been working since the 2010 earthquake. Under his direction Mission Results has successfully completed numerous community building projects to include opening a community center, building homes and a bakery and establishing educational and recreational program for children.A lifelong health and fitness enthusiast, Jefferies is the founder of Results Gym, and is the owner of STROGA, a functional training and yoga center in Washington, D.C.
Author and English Teacher David Menasche ’97
David Menasche ’97 is an award-winning teacher, author and cancer survivor. As a popular Coral Reef Senior High School English teacher, Menasche inspired his students, helping them through personal struggles and sharing valuable life lessons. In 2006, Menasche was diagnosed with brain cancer. The disease stole his vision, memory and mobility. After various surgeries, chemotherapy and a seizure, Menasche was unable to teach. Undaunted by the difficult road ahead, he decided to end his treatments and make life his classroom. He turned to Facebook with an audacious plan: a journey across America—by bus, train, and red-tipped cane—in hopes of seeing firsthand how his kids were faring in life. Had he made a difference? Within 48 hours of posting, former students in more than 50 cities replied with offers of support and shelter. To date, Menasche has travelled more than 8,000 miles to more than 30 cities visiting hundreds of students. His remarkable journey, which lasted 101 days, inspired his best-selling memoir, The Priority List: A Teacher’s Final Quest to Discover Life’s Greatest Lessons. Warner Bros. has bought the rights to the memoir; Steve Carell is slated to play Menasche in the film.
Eco-conscious entrepreneurs Brian Machovina ’91, MS ’94 and Eileen McHale ’93
Brian Machovina ’91, MS ’94 and Eileen McHale ’93 are the inventors of Yonanas, a kitchen appliance that turns frozen fruits into a treat that looks and tastes like soft-serve ice cream, now sold in over fifty countries. The married couple has spent their careers devoted to health, nutrition and the environment, working together as a duo developing many mission-driven organizations. As founders of Nui, they developed healthy beverages for children, published an eco-nutrition fictional chapter book, and promoted the youth-oriented healthy-lifestyle brand through a variety of media and marketing programs. At Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products they helped develop new products and marketing efforts that supported a rainforest-grown tea become a leader of ‘market-driven conservation,’ positioning the company as one of the hottest selling brands in natural foods. The duo co-developed a charity, Oasis Preserve International, which preserved rainforests in Latin America, guiding a board of directors consisting of leaders in the entertainment, foundation, and scientific communities. McHale is the creator and host of Dish with Eileen, a healthy foods cooking show sponsored by Yonanas broadcasting to students in schools and youth centers nationwide on the HOPSports Network. Ms. McHale attended culinary school in Los Angeles and is a former caterer and private chef, with a focus on healthy, creative, and delicious foods. Machovina is now completing a doctoral degree in biology at FIU where he studies ecological issues related to food security.
Scientist, Engineer and Entrepreneur Krishnatej Vedala MS ’09, PhD ’13
Krishnatej Vedala MS ’09, PhD ’13 is the co-founder and chief science officer of CarePredict, a company that provides senior citizens wearable sensors that track daily life patterns. Helping seniors keep their independence longer, CarePredict monitors users’ movement in their homes, recording information such as what room they’re in, how fast they’re walking and what position they’re sitting or lying in. Once the software learns a user’s normal routines, it can be used to point out anomalies and even predict future problems. As an electrical and neural engineer, Vedala, 28, specializes in how to get the most meaning from that data. He has developed and published algorithms for landmine detection and intraoperative monitoring of patients during spinal surgeries. Raised is a small village in India, Vedala came to the United States to study at FIU. He was honored as a Worlds Ahead graduate when he completed his doctoral degree in the spring of 2013. Before founding CarePredict, Vedala was a chief hardware engineer at AdMobilize and a visiting researcher at Miami Children’s Hospital.