FutureFest Speakers
We are currently in the process of locking down speakers for this exciting project and you can expect this page to be updated in the near future.
If you are interested in speaking at this event please contact James Vincent (Life/Machine) or Marcie Bell (Earth/Communication) using the details on our Contact Us page.
Speakers - [Please Select]
Tim Bevan CBE
Aubrey de Grey
Dale Dougherty
Craig Venter
Bob Watson
Susan Greenfield CBE
Rodney Brooks
Bunker Roy
Sir David King
Sir Brian Heap CBE
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Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE
Alex Kalache
Oussama Khatib
David Thorpe
Moray MacLennan
Jon Moulton
Tim Bevan CBE
Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Working Title Films
Theme: Communication
Tim Bevan CBE is Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Working Title Films which he forned in 1984, joining forces with Eric Fellner in 1982. Co-Chaired by them, Working Title has made more than 90 films that have grossed over $4 billion worldwide including Four Weddings & A Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually. The Company's films have won 6 Academy Awards (for Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking, Joel and Ethan Coen's Fargo, Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth and The Golden Age and Joe Wright's Atonement, 26 BAFTA Awards and prestigious prizes at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals. Bevan and Fellner have been honoured with two of the highest film awards given to British filmmakers; the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the Orange British Academy Film Awards (2004) and the Alexander Walker Film Award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. They have both been honoured with CBEs (Commanders of the British Empire).
Currenrly in production and post-production are a record eight films; Nick Moore's Wild Child, starring Emma Roberts; Beeban Kidron's Hippie Hippie Shake, starring Cillian Murphy, Sienna Miller, Emma Booth and Max Minghella; Kevin Macdonald's State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Robin Wright Penn; Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, adapted by Peter Morgan from his play of the same name starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen; Joel and Ethan Coen's Burn After Reading, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich; Joe Wright's The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr and Catherine Keener; and Richard Curtis' The Boat That Rocked starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Nick Frost.; and Paul Greengrass' Green Zone Thriller starring Matt Damon.
Aubrey de Grey
Methuselah Foundation
Theme: Life
Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist based in Cambridge, UK, and is the Chairman and Chief Science Officer of the Methuselah Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity dedicated to combating the aging process. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, the world's only peer-reviewed journal focused on intervention in aging.
His research interests encompass the causes of all the accumulating and eventually pathogenic molceular and cellular side-effects of metabolism ("damage") that constitute mammalian aging and
the design of interventions to repair and/or obviate that damage. He has developed a possibly comprehensive plan for such repair, termed Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), which breaks the aging problem down into seven major classes of damage and identifies detailed approaches to addressing each one.
A key aspect of SENS is that it can potentially extend healthy lifespan without limit, even though these repair processes will probably never be perfect, as the repair only needs to approach perfection rapidly enough to keep the overall level of damage below pathogenic levels. Dr. de Grey has termed this required rate of improvement of repair therapies "longevity escape velocity".
Dale Dougherty
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Theme: Machine
Dale Dougherty is the founding editor and publisher of Make and Craft magazines, both of which focus on DIY projects, and the creator of Maker Faire, which showcases the projects of creative individuals and communities. Dale has been instrumental in many of O'Reilly's most important efforts, working closely with Tim O'Reilly to establish O'Reilly as a leading technical publisher. An early Web pioneer, Dale was the developer and publisher of Global Network Navigator (GNN), the first commercial Web site launched in 1993 and sold to America Online in 1995. Dale was developer and publisher of Web Review, the online magazine for Web designers from 1995-1999, which was sold to CMP in 1999. He developed the Hacks Series of books in 2003, which includes the bestselling Google Hacks and Excel Hacks. He coined the term Web 2.0 as part of developing the Web 2.0 Conference. Dale is General Manager of the Maker Media division of O'Reilly Media. He lives and works in Sebastopol, California.
Craig Venter
Founder, Chairman, and President of the J. Craig Venter Institute
Theme: Life
J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., is regarded as one of the leading
scientists of the 21st century for his invaluable contributions to genomic
research. He is Founder, Chairman, and President of the J. Craig Venter
Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit, research organization with more than 400
scientist and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant, synthetic, and environmental
genomic research, as well as the exploration of social and ethical issues in
genomics. He is also founder and CEO of Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately
held company dedicated to developing and commercializing synthetic genomic
advances. The company is currently focused on solving pressing societal needs
such as producing new alternative energies and biochemicals.
After a tour of duty as a Navy Corpsman in Vietnam from 1967
to 1968, Dr. Venter earned both a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and a Ph.D.
in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California at San Diego.
After leaving UCSD, he was appointed professor at the State University of New
York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In 1984, he moved to the National Institutes
of Health campus where he developed Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs,) a
revolutionary new strategy for rapid gene discovery. In 1992 Dr. Venter founded The Institute for
Genomic Research (TIGR), a not-for-profit research institute, where in 1995 he
and his team decoded the genome of the first free-living organism, the
bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, using his new whole genome shotgun technique.
In 1998, Dr. Venter founded Celera Genomics to sequence the
human genome with his new techniques. This
research culminated with the February 2001 publication of the human genome in
the journal, Science. He and his team there also sequenced the fruit fly, mouse
and rat genomes. In 2002 after leaving
Celera Dr. Venter and his team at the Venter Institute continued their ground
breaking work in various areas of genomics. He and his teams continue to blaze
new trails in genomics research and have published more than 50 genomes and
numerous important papers covering such areas as environmental genomics,
synthetic genomics and the first complete diploid genome.
Bob Watson
Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Theme: Earth
Professor Watson's career has evolved from research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory: California Institute of Technology, to a US Federal Government program manager/director at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to a scientific/policy advisor in the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), White House, to a scientific advisor, manager and chief scientist at the World Bank, to a Chair of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, the Director for Strategic Direction for the Tyndall centre, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
In parallel to his formal positions he has chaired, co-chaired or directed international scientific, technical and economic assessments of stratospheric ozone depletion, biodiversity/ecosystems (the GBA and MA), climate change (IPCC) and agricultural S&T (IAASTD). Professor Watson's areas of expertise include managing and coordinating national and international environmental programs, research programs and assessments; establishing science and environmental policies - specifically advising governments and civil society on the policy implications of scientific information and policy options for action; and communicating scientific, technical and economic information to policymakers. During the last twenty years he has received numerous national and international awards recognizing his contributions to science and the science-policy interface, including in 2003 - Honorary "Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George" from the United Kingdom.
Susan Greenfield CBE
Director, Royal Institution of Great Britain
Theme: Life
Baroness Greenfield is Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (the first woman to hold that position) and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, where she leads a multi-disciplinary team investigating neurodegenerative disorders. In addition she is Director of the Oxford Centre for the Science of the Mind, exploring the physical basis of consciousness.
Her books include "The Human Brain: A Guided Tour" (1997), "The Private Life of the Brain" (2000), and "Tomorrow's People: How 21st Century Technology Is Changing the Way We Think and Feel" (2003) and "‘ID' - The Quest for Identity" is due to be published in May 2008 by Hodder Publishing. She has spun off four companies from her research, made a diverse contribution to print and broadcast media, and led a Government report on "Women In Science". She has received 29 Honorary Degrees, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (2000), a non-political Life Peerage (2001) as well as the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur (2003). In 2006 she was installed as Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University and voted `Honorary Australian of the Year'. . In 2007 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Rodney Brooks
Director, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Theme: Machine
Rodney Brooks is Panasonic Professor of Robotics at MIT. He is also Chief Technical Officer of iRobot Corp (NASDAQ: IRBT). From 1997 - 2003 and from 2003 - 2007, respectively, he was Director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). He received degrees in pure mathematics from the Flinders University of South Australia and the Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1981. He held research positions at Carnegie Mellon University and MIT, and a faculty position at Stanford before joining the faculty of MIT in 1984. His research is concerned with both the engineering of intelligent robots to operate in unstructured environments, and with understanding human intelligence through building humanoid robots. He has published papers and books in model-based computer vision, path planning, uncertainty analysis, robot assembly, active vision, autonomous robots, micro-robots, micro-actuators, planetary exploration, representation, artificial life, humanoid robots, and compiler design.
Dr. Brooks is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a Founding Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts &Sciences (AAAS), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the other AAAS), a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a Corresponding Member of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and a Foreign Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). He won the Computers and Thought Award at the 1991 IJCAI (International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence). He has been the Cray lecturer at the University of Minnesota, the Mellonlecturer at Dartmouth College, and the Forsythelecturer at Stanford University. He was co-founding editor of the InternationalJournal of Computer Vision and is a member of the editorial boards of various journals including Adaptive Behavior, Artificial Life, Applied Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Robots and New Generation Computing. He starred as himself in the 1997 Errol Morris movie "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" named for one of his scientific papers, a Sony Classics picture, available on DVD.
Bunker Roy
Founder, Barefoot College
Theme: Earth
Bunker Roy is the Founder Director of the Barefoot College (www.barefootcollege.org ) based in the village of Tilonia in Rajasthan India. Started 36 years ago it is the only College based in a remote rural area built by the poor for the poor and managed by the poor who earn less than $ 1/day. The College follows the work style and lifestyle of Mahatma Gandhi where living conditions are simple, austere and down to earth.
Since 1972 more than 20 Barefoot Colleges have started in over 13 States of India. The Barefoot approach of training rural semi-literate middle aged women to solar electrifying their own villages has been replicated in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Cameroon, Mali(Timbuktu), Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
Mr Roy is the Founder Chairman of the Global Rain Water Harvesting Collective based in India as well as in The Netherlands( www.globalrainwaterharvesting.org ) focusing on collecting rain water from the roofs of remote rural schools. More than 50 million litres have been collected in over 1,000 schools all over the world.
In January 2008 The Guardian Newspaper in London recognized Bunker Roy as one of 50 people in the world who could save the planet.
Sir David King
Former UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser & Director, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment
Theme: Earth
Sir David King is the Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford. He was the UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office of Science from October 2000 to 31 December 2007. In that time, he raised the profile of the need for governments to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the new £1 billion Energy Technologies Institute. In 2008 he co-authored "The Hot Topic" (Bloomsbury 2008) on this subject. As Director of the Government's Foresight Programme, he created an in-depth horizon scanning process which advised government on a wide range of long term issues, from flooding to obesity. He also chaired the government's Global Science and Innovation Forum from its inception. He advised government on issues including: The foot-and-mouth disease epidemic 2001; post 9/11 risks to the UK; GM foods; energy provision; and innovation and wealth creation; and he was heavily involved in the Government's Science and Innovation Strategy 2004-2014.
He was born in South Africa in 1939, and after an early career at the University of Witwatersrand, Imperial College and the University of East Anglia, he became the Brunner Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1974. In 1988 he was appointed 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and subsequently became Master of Downing College (1995 - 2000) and Head of the University Chemistry Department (1993 - 2000). He has published over 450 papers on his research in chemical physics and on science and policy, and has received numerous prizes, Fellowships and Honorary Degrees. He continues as Director of Research in the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University, and is currently President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Sir Brian Heap CBE
Research Associate at the Capability and Sustainability Centre, St Edmund's College, Cambridge
Theme: Life
Brian Heap is Research Associate at the Capability and Sustainability Centre, St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He is also Special Professor at the University of Nottingham, Honorary Fellow at St Edmund's College Cambridge and Green College Oxford, Principle Scientific Adviser of ZyGEM Co Ltd New Zealand, President of the International Society of Science and Religion, Vice-President of European Academies Science Advisory Council, Chair of Academia Europaea Trustees, the phg Foundation Cambridge, and the Advisory Board of the Faraday Institute at St Edmund's College, Board member of Sense about Science and the African Technology Policy Studies Network, co-Director of Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships Programme in Science and Religion, Deputy Chair of the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts, and trustee of various other organizations.
He holds doctorates from the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge, and has published widely in endocrine physiology, biotechnology, sustainable consumption and production, and science advice and policy issues.
He was Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge, Vice-President and Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, Director of Research at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Direcotr of the Babraham Institute Cambridge, President of the Institute of Biology, UK Representative on the NATO Science Committee and European Science Foundation, Chair of the Cambridge Genetics Knowledge Park, Advisory Board member of the Templeton Foundation USA, and a judge of the Templeton Prize.
Sir Brian was Editor of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences), served on the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Department of Health's Expert Group on Cloning, and has worked on developing country issues particularly in China with the World Health Organisation. He was scientific consultant for Merck, Sharp and Dohme, New Jersey, Johnson and Johnson, New Jersey, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, San Diego.
Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE
Solo percussionist & composer
Theme: Communication
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Evelyn is the first person in musical history to
successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist. As
one of the most eclectic and innovative musicians on the scene today she is constantly
redefining the goals and expectations of percussion, and creating performances
of such vitality that they almost constitute a new type of performance.
Evelyn gives more than 100 performances a year worldwide, performing with the
greatest conductors, orchestras, and artists. For the first ten years of her
career virtually every performance she gave was in some way a first. Her
diversity of collaborations have included performances artists such as Nana
Vasconcelos, Kodo, Bela Fleck, Bjork, Bobby McFerrin, Sting, Emmanuel Ax, Kings
Singers, Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Fred Frith.
Evelyn has commissioned one hundred and fifty new works for solo percussion
from many of the world's most eminent composers and also composes and records
music for film and television. Her first high quality drama produced a score so
original she was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts
awards (BAFTA's); the UK equivalent of the Oscars.
Out of the 25 recordings made so far, Evelyn's first CD, Bartok's Sonata for
two Pianos and Percussion won her a Grammy in 1988. A further two Grammy
nominations followed, one of which she won for a collaboration with Bela Fleck.
Evelyn's twelfth solo CD, Shadow Behind the Iron Sun (BMG Records), was based
on a radical improvisational concept and has once again questioned people's
expectations.
The Evelyn Glennie brand is constantly exploring other areas of creativity.
From writing a best selling autobiography, Good Vibrations, to collaborating
with the renowned film director Thomas Riedelsheimer on a film called Touch the
Sound, to presenting two series of her own television programmes (Soundbites)
for the BBC, to regularly appearing on television across the world, which
include The David Letterman Show (USA), Sesame Street (USA), The South Bank
Show (UK), presenting and performing on Songs of Praise (UK), Commonwealth
Games Festival Concert, This is Your Life (UK), 60 minutes (USA), PBS Profile
(USA) and many more.
Evelyn's activities also include lobbying the Government on political issues,
her consortium with Sir James Galway, Julian Lloyd Webber and the late Michael
Caman successfuly led to the Government providing £332. million towards music
education. Other aspects include Evelyn Glennie Images, which supplies
photographs from a vast image library of Evelyn, Evelyn Glennie Jewellery,
which is a range of Jewellery designed in conjunction with Ortak is based on
her influences as a solo percussionist and Evelyn Glennie Merchandise. Evelyn
is also an international motivational speaker to many diverse corporate
companies and events. Evelyn also performs with Orchestras on the Great
Highland Bagpipes.
After 20 years in the music business she has begun teaching privately, which
allows her to explore the art of teaching and to explore the world of sound
therapy as a means of communication.
In 1993 Evelyn was awarded the OBE (Officer of the British Empire). This was
extended in 2007 to 'Dame Commander' for her services to music, and to date has
received over 80 international awards.
Please visit Evelyn's website at www.evelyn.co.uk
Photo - Richard
Ecclestone © Sabian.
Alex Kalache
Senior Advisor to the President on Global Ageing at The New York Academy of Medicine.
Theme: Life
Alexandre Kalache is a medical doctor, originally from Brazil , who studied for his MSc degree (Social Medicine) and PhD degree (Cancer Epidemiology) in England.
Since 1995 he has acted as the Head of the Ageing and Life Course Programme (ALC) at the World Health Organization. ALC activities are designed to advance the state of knowledge about health care in older age and gerontology through dissemination of information, training and research efforts. ALC special focus is on the development of policies reflecting the 'WHO Active Ageing framework.'
In 2008 Alex Kalache, PhD, was appointed Senior Advisor to the President on Global Ageing at The New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Kalache represents NYAM on aging issues, is establishing and enhancing international links, co-directing specific projects adopting age-friendly approaches and is supporting NYAM's efforts in mainstreaming aging throughout its divisions to ensure the most collaborative efforts on this important issue.
Dr. Kalache has appeared recently in Este Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people and was featured on BBC World America featuring ageing issues on a global scale. Previously, Dr. Kalache served as founder and head of the Epidemiology of Aging Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where from 1984 to 1995 he launched a series of international short courses on the implications for Public Health of Population Aging. These courses were replicated by several countries resulting in the establishment of a global network of researchers under his coordination. While at the LSHTM, Dr. Kalache was also responsible for setting up the first European Masters of Science course on Health Promotion. The framework adopted for this initiative was used as a base for the development of the WHO Program under his direction firmly centered on a healthy aging/life course perspective.
Alex Kalache, PhD, former Head of the Ageing and Life Course Programs at the World Health Organization (WHO), has been appointed Senior Advisor to the President on Global Ageing at The New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Kalache represents NYAM on aging issues, is establishing and enhancing international links, co-directing specific projects adopting age-friendly approaches and is supporting NYAM's efforts in mainstreaming aging throughout its divisions to ensure the most collaborative efforts on this important issue.
Dr. Kalache has appeared recently in Este Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people and was featured on BBC World America featuring ageing issues on a global scale. Previously, Dr. Kalache served as founder and head of the Epidemiology of Aging Unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where from 1984 to 1995 he launched a series of international short courses on the implications for Public Health of Population Aging. These courses were replicated by several countries resulting in the establishment of a global network of researchers under his coordination. While at the LSHTM, Dr. Kalache was also responsible for setting up the first European Masters of Science course on Health Promotion. The framework adopted for this initiative was used as a base for the development of the WHO Program under his direction firmly centered on a healthy aging/life course perspective.
Oussama Khatib
President of the International Foundation of Robotics Research, Stanford University
Theme: Machine
Prof. Khatib received his Ph.D. in 1980 from Sup'Aero, Toulouse, France. He is Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University.
His current research is in human-centered robotics, human-friendly robot design, dynamic simulations, and haptic interactions. His exploration in this research ranges from the autonomous ability of a robot to cooperate with a human to the haptic interaction of a user with an animated character or a surgical instrument.
His research in human-centered robotics builds on a large body of studies he pursued over the past 25 years and published in over 200 contributions in the robotics field. Prof. Khatib was the Program Chair of ICRA2000 (San Francisco) and Editor of "The Robotics Review" (MIT Press).
He has served as the Director of the Stanford Computer Forum, an industry affiliate program. He is currently the President of the International Foundation of Robotics Research, IFRR, and Editor of STAR, Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics. Prof. Khatib is IEEE fellow, Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE, and recipient of the JARA Award.
David Thorpe
Senior Partner, Global Director of Innovation, Ogilvy Worldwide
Theme: Communication
David Thorpe joined Ogilvy in 2007 to help the agency and its clients develop an innovation agenda for their business in order to tackle the rapidly shifting marketplaces of today.
Prior to Ogilvy, David served as the Global Lead for Strategy and Insights for Microsoft at Young & Rubicam Brands. As the Director of Creative Development at The New Yorker, David's mandate was to bring the magazine into the digital age creating new editorial contexts and revenue streams for the magazine's content. David held a similar position at Random House where he produced the NPR series, Breakfast at Random House. After Art College in London, David developed an extensive background in motion pictures working across development, production, marketing; his music can be heard in Gus Van Sant's "Finding Forrester".
David serves on the advisory boards of The Rockefeller Foundation's Cultural Innovation Fund and The Institute for State Effectiveness; and the editorial board of the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Press.
Moray MacLennan
IPA President & Chairman, Europe, M&C Saatchi
Theme: Communication
Moray began in advertising as a Graduate Trainee at Saatchi & Saatchi in 1983, having studied law at Christs College Cambridge. Whilst at Saatchi & Saatchi he was a Worldwide Board Account Director across a range of major national and international accounts. He was made Managing Director in 1993. He left the agency with Maurice and Charles in 1995 to help found M&C Saatchi as Chief Executive, UK.
Moray is currently Chairman (Europe) of M&C Saatchi (offices in London, Paris, Berlin, Madrid)and is responsible for all its group companies including Lida (DM), Talk PR, Sport & Entertainment and Play (Digital). He was elected IPA President in April 2007.
Jon Moulton
Alchemy Partners
Theme: Earth
Jon Moulton is Managing Partner of Alchemy, a UK-based private equity firm,
which has invested £2.0 billion of equity with an emphasis on dealing with
troubled companies. It recently
completed the raising of a £300m European special opportunities fund.
He is a Chartered Accountant, a CF and
Fellow of the Society of Turnaround Professionals. Previously worked with Citicorp Venture
Capital in New York
and London,
Permira and Apax. He has been a director
of five public companies, numerous private companies and is currently a
director of the US-based Irvin parachute business, the Cedar IT business,
Sylvan (timber) and Ashmore Group - a major investor in emerging market debt
amongst others.
