William Durfee is Professor and Director of Design Education in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He received the A.B. degree in Engineering and Applied Physics from Harvard University and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  His professional interests include the design of medical devices, rehabilitation engineering, advanced orthotics, biomechanics and physiology of human muscle including electrical stimulation of muscle, product design and design education.

A recent graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, Adam has spent the last 4 years attempting to find his calling in public accounting, corporate finance, healthcare consulting, and different community leadership roles. The pressure of finding the “right” life caused mental and emotional difficulties that ultimately lead Adam through some extreme highs and lows. Now he realizes his true passion exists outside a traditional role of employment; he is dedicated to helping others overcome barriers and realize their potential through his start-up Real Empowermbent Solutions, coaching and mentoring youth, and observing the universe.

About Emily: UMN Graduate Student in  Natural Resources Science and Management

Emily Cassidy has a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science and is currently finishing up a Master’s in Natural Resources Management at the Institute on the Environment with Jonathan Foley. She is co-author on a 2011 Nature publication titled “Solutions for a Cultivated Planet”. Her research has focused on the global environmental impact of dietary preferences. Specifically she quantifies the land, water, and climate impacts of the food we eat everyday. She tries to convince everyone she meets that the food you eat, rather than the car you drive, has a greater impact on the environment.

Christiaan Greer is a 4th year doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota’s counseling psychology program. His primary research interests involve studying the effects of trauma and, most recently, developing online interventions for stress and anxiety. Prior to his doctoral studies, Christiaan worked at the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York as a research assistant helping to study the effects of cognitive rehabilitation on patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). He also worked as a high school teacher for seven years in New York City at the Churchill School and Center, a school for children with learning disabilities.

Krystal attended the University of Illinois where she earned a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology.   She spent evenings and weekends volunteering at a local hospital, which was very interesting, not just from a medical standpoint, but also due to the experience of meeting so many people from all walks of life.  In the fall of 2009, she enrolled in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where she took her first public health and ethics course. She now works at a research company in the Twin Cities, and continues to volunteer in her spare time.

David Ernst is the Chief Information Officer and adjunct faculty in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. As Executive Director of the Open Academics project, David is working to address access and affordability of higher education through the advancement of openly licensed textbooks. The College of Education and Human Development created the Open Academics textbook catalog where faculty can find over 135 open textbooks. Faculty can also help determine the quality of the textbooks by submitting reviews to post on the site.

Dr. John Moravec is a co-initiator of the Invisible Learning project; a co-founder of the Horizon Forum, a roundtable on the future of education at all levels; and is the editor of Education Futures. He is also a faculty member in the Innovation Studies/Master of Liberal Studies graduate programs at the University of Minnesota.

Matthew Schneider-Mayerson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of American Studies at the University of Minnesota.  He has published articles on American history, politics and literature in journals such as American Studies, Radical History Review, Studies in Popular Culture and The International Journal of Sport & Society.  In his dissertation, “Peak Politics: Resource Scarcity and Libertarian Political Culture in the United States,” and a forthcoming article in Environmental Politics, he explores the ‘peak oil’ movement in the context of contemporary responses to environmental crises and the rise of libertarian ideals in American political culture.

Jamie Millard is a client relationship manager for Fast Horse, an innovative, integrated agency offering traditional and non-traditional marketing services, specializing in nonprofits. Outside of traditional work hours, she flexes her entrepreneurial muscle with high-level volunteer projects like Paper Darts, a magazine of art and literature that is gaining traction nationally, where she is the executive director and co-founder, and Pollen, a Twin Cities community newsletter for civic-minded business leaders, for which Jamie serves as publisher and editor-in-chief. Jamie was recently recognized in the Huffington Post as one of four millennial leaders “doing important work to move us toward a more just and equitable society.” She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts with a degree in English

Walid Issa is a 25-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem. Born in the Deheishe Refugee Camp, Walid attended a Christian school in Bethlehem where he was introduced to his American family, who have hosted him for six years while he completed a BS in applied economics at St. Cloud University. In addition to working on a Master’s Degree in Economics, Issa has also co-founded a non-profit dedicated to connect  young professionals  and finding more effective economic aid programs for the Middle East.