This Friday, we are "flashing back" to last year's Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week (BREW). We are thrilled to be a part of the week each year, and this year is no different. Check out www.celebratebrew.com to grab your ticket and register for the different sessions. 

Pro Tip: You do NOT want to miss the "Telling your story with a little TED-like magic" session led by our organizers OR the TEDxLSU Happy Hour where we'll reveal our 2018 lineup!

Register TODAY!

Words by: Tori Landry 
​Photos by: Sean Richardson

In honor of the upcoming release of the TEDxLSU 2018 speaker lineup, we decided to revisit with some of last year’s speakers to see what they’ve been up to since the 2017 event. Of these we decided to reach out to vocalist Quiana Lynell. When she is not cultivating students’ technical understanding of the theatrics of music at Loyola University, Quiana dedicates her time to becoming a world-renowned musician.

After re-reading her feature in 225 magazine, we had a few more questions for Quiana...

We absolutely loved being in the audience for your TEDxLSU talk, but how was it being on the stage?
Returning on campus as a featured guest was a dream come true! Surrounded by a group of energetic colleagues and creatives was indescribable. I was totally enamored.   

How do you know your music is moving to others? What is that experience like for you as an artist?
When you look across a crowd and you get eye contact from almost every gaze you meet, you know it’s working. The energy is being transferred and memories are being created. The experience was much different than any other I’ve experienced with the looming red reverse counting numbers! I’ve never been under such time constraints with so much to say! It definitely taught me how to get to the facts!

Tell us what you’ve been up to since you took the stage earlier this year?
I have completed my first international tour with four-time Grammy Winner Terence Blanchard and performed with an internationally acclaimed philharmonic and conductor. I am now working on a new record entitled Dream Chasing and I am a finalist in the International Sarah Vaughan Vocal Jazz Competition to be held November 12.
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The TEDxLSU organizers are busy at work preparing for the next event. What would you tell the new class of speakers? Any advice for them?
You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t capable and didn't have a purpose! Share your love and your passion will lead you to greatness.

​To watch Quiana's 2017 talk, click below:

Words by: Tori Landry
Pictures by: Sean Richardson
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In Albert Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relativity, he
predicted that the collision of two black holes would
create gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of
spacetime. It was in 2015 that these waves were first
recorded by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors located in Baton
Rouge’s own backyard. Gabriela González, LSU
physics professor and LIGO Scientific Collaboration
spokesperson, played an integral role in helping prove gravitational waves.

González serves as the scientific leader of the LIGO scientific collaboration, which means she is charged  with coordinating the collaboration’s working groups  and which topics each group will research. González is
also a professor at LSU - in fact, she was the first woman physics faculty member at the university.

Check out more about Dr. Gabriela González’s research in her 2017 TEDxLSU talk below.

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