University of Cambridge

Nehru's Tryst with Destiny speech, August 14/15 1947

Dr Michelle Oyen, Reader in Bioengineering

Dr Michelle Oyen will discuss the carbon footprint of popular building materials like steel and concrete and approaches for substituting new bio-inspired materials instead.

Dr Rosalind Ridley, Senior Member of Newnham College and former Head of the UK Medical Research Council's Comparative Cognition Research Team in the Department of Psychology

Rosalind Ridley views the Peter Pan stories through the eyes of a neuroscientist and explores J M Barrie's interest in cognition, theory of mind and the nature of consciousness. Barrie's stories are rich in post-Darwinian questions about the origins of human nature and the mental abilities of animals, children and adults.

Professor Daping Chu, Director of Centre for Photonic Devices and Sensors and Director of the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE)

Professor Daping Chu outlines his work on the car of the future and the use of Head-Up Display technology together with his JLR collaborators.

Dr Preti Taneja, Fellow Commoner at Jesus College and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker

Preti Taneja's debut novel We That Are Young sets Shakespeare's King Lear in contemporary India, where the clash of youth and age, the rise of the religious right wing, the repression of free speech and civil conflict in Kashmir are ongoing. Preti will discuss the hidden history, politics and urgent contemporary relevance of Shakespeare's plays in India, one of the world’s fastest growing economies and will read from her forthcoming book. Dr Taneja is also chairing a session with the writer Paul Beatty at 5.30pm.

Hugh Hunt, Reader in the Department of Engineering

We may want to cool the planet if (when) we fail to meet our CO2 emissions targets. There are technologies out there almost ready to go and some sound quite scary. Is it safe to meddle with the climate when we only have one Earth, asks Dr Hugh Hunt?

Professor Steve Evans, Director of Research in Industrial Sustainability

Factories that forage, X-ray glasses that can see energy, why price is not value, and lots of stupid stuff as well. We will explore how the industrial system is (slowly) changing and why free energy is ignored. Professor Steve Evans explains how to be an environmental optimist and love factories.

Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College

Children as young as six have already developed ideas about what boys and girls can 'do'. As they progress through school further cultural messages fix attitudes and are one part of why we have so few women engineers and male vets. Innovation, which thrives on diverse perspectives, is handicapped by the effects of such stereotyping. Our society needs to do better.

Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Union Law and the Jean Monnet Chair of EU Law in the Faculty of Law

EU legal expert Professor Catherine Barnard explains the complexity of the Brexit negotiations.

Dr Kourosh Saeb Parsy, Lecturer at the Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge and a Consultant Transplant Surgeon at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Dr Kourosh Saeb Parsy reviews how organ transplantation is being transformed by innovations in organ donation, stem cell technology, bio-engineered tissues, machine perfusion of organs and other biomedical advances, including a discussion of the ensuing ethical and legal dilemmas.