Kris Kimel

Kris Kimel is President and a founder of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC), an independent non-profit company with a reputation for designing and executing ambitious and diverse initiatives in science, technology, entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation. He is also a founder of two subsidiary companies...Kentucky Space (nonprofit company) and Space Tango LLC (for-profit enterprise); both focus on the design and development of entrepreneurial space solutions involving applications and novel space platforms (particularly in the field of exomedicine) for the International Space Station (ISS) and small high value satellites. Kris is also the founder of the IdeaFestival, an international event centering on innovation, discovery and creative thinking across different disciplines. Kris, originally from Miami, Florida, holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Kentucky and was the 1974 recipient of the University of Kentucky's Sullivan Medallion.

Session: IF Early-Start: Next Gen ... S P A C E
Friday, October 2
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking. 

Recommended Books

Scott Kimel

Scott Kimel began flying at 16 years old and his experience has included periods in private, corporate and commercial aviation. He has logged close to 10,000 hours of flight experience as a Flight Engineer, First Officer and Captain on a wide variety of aircraft. 

Session: The Rise of Super Smart Machines...Work...and the Crash of Air France Flight 447 
Wednesday, September 30
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Daniel Kish

Blind since early childhood Daniel Kish has worked with tens of thousands of blind clients and families in over 40 countries to help break down the barriers to realizing the potential for blind people. He is the lead founder and President of World Access for the Blind. Daniel holds Master's degrees in both Developmental Psychology and Special Education. He is the first totally blind individual to obtain certifications as an Orientation and Mobility Instructor. 

@waftb

Session: Daniel Kish
Thursday, October 1
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking. 

Recommended Books

Andy Kropa

Andy Kropa is a documentary photographer and pioneer in the use of wearable cameras as a means of self-expression.

@andykropa

Session: Art @ the Edge
Thursday, October 1
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking. 

Recommended Book

James Ledbetter

James Ledbetter is the editor of Inc. magazine and Inc.com. Prior to that position he was the founder and editor of The Big Money, Slate’s business and finance site, and the Opinion Editor for Reuters. He has also been deputy managing editor of CNN Money and senior editor at TIME.

Ledbetter is the author or editor of five books, most recently Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex (Yale University Press). He is currently writing a book about monetary debates and American politics, for W.W. Norton. His writing on business, media and politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Nation, The American Prospect, The New Republic, Mother Jones, VIBE, and dozens of other publications. 

@jledbetter

Session: Staying Relevant
Wednesday, September 30
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Ruby Lerner

Ruby Lerner is the founding President and Executive Director of Creative Capital. Prior to Creative Capital, Lerner served as the Executive Director of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) and as Publisher of the highly regarded Independent Film and Video Monthly. Having worked regionally in both the performing arts and independent media fields, she served as the Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS, a coalition of Southeastern performing artists, and IMAGE Film/Video Center, both based in Atlanta. In the late 1970s, she was the Audience Development Director at the Manhattan Theatre Club, one of New York's foremost nonprofit theaters.

Session: Art @ the Edge
Thursday, October 1
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Michelle Lucas

Michelle Lucas spent 10+ years at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an International Space Station Flight Controller and Astronaut Instructor for Daily Operations. During that time she worked with  US astronauts, instructors and flight controllers and also individuals at the Russian Space Agency (RSA), Japanese Space Agency JAXA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Lucas now runs her own consulting company. She is the Founder & President of Higher Orbits - a non-profit enterprise with the mission to utilize space to launch student interest in STEM/STEAM, Communications Leadership and Teamwork - and is a partner in Uniphi Space Agency - a management company that represents retired astronauts.

@spacechelle

Session: IF Early-Start: Next Gen ... S P A C E
Friday, October 2
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking. 

Recommended Books

Ndaba Mandela

Grandson of Nelson Mandela, Co-Founder & Chairman of Africa Rising Foundation, Ndaba Mandela carries his grandfathers torch to keep its beacon of hope bright, fueling its fiery message that “one person can make a difference.”

@ndabamandela

Session: Ndaba Mandela
Friday, October 2
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking. 

Recommended Books

Traci Mann

Dr. Mann is uniquely qualified to provide the real truth about dieting, eating, obesity, and self-control. She is a widely cited expert, but she does not run a diet clinic or test diets, and she has never taken a penny from commercial diet companies, sat on their boards of directors, or endorsed one of their products. Because of this, her livelihood, research funding, and reputation are not dependent on her reporting that diets work or that obesity is unhealthy. This sets her apart from nearly all diet and obesity researchers and allows her to speak the truth about these topics, which she does with abandon.

Session: Inside The Eating Lab
Wednesday, September 30
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center

Each year IdeaFestival asks our presenters to submit a list of books that they are currently reading or any book(s) they have read in the past or at any stage of their lives that have had a major influence on their thinking. 

Recommended Books

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