The TEDxUMKC event, “Big Challenges, Small Solutions,” will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 at the WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial. Speakers include a UMKC School of Pharmacy student who has developed a health app, faculty innovators, and Kansas City Mayor Sly James.

Tickets typically sell out quickly and are now available for purchase at tedxumkc.com. They are $5 for UMKC students with valid student IDs and $10 for the general public. They include access to the live performances, T-shirt, gift bag and light refreshments.

The TEDxUMKC organizing committee, headed by co-curators Rahul Maheshwari and Ryan Sieli — both fourth-year UMKC Medical students — selected the speakers because of their diverse backgrounds and ideas worth spreading that are focused on solving global challenges with small solutions:

• Reza Derakshani, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering at UMKC and Chief Science Officer of EyeVerify
• Terri Friedline, associate professor at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare
• Mark Hoffman, director of the Center for Health Insights and associate professor for biomedical and health informatics at the UMKC School of Medicine, and director for translational bioinformatics at Children’s Mercy
• Kansas City Mayor Sly James
• Dakota Rosenfelt, UMKC School of Pharmacy student and creator of HemoTool, an app used by those with bleeding disorders that allows them to track and record their treatment, order new medications and locate Hemophilia Treatment Centers (HTCs) on the go in the event of an emergency.

The event, now in its fourth year, also will feature a performance by local contemporary jazz band AM Trio, led by singer Alyssa Murray, with drummer Joshua Blythe and bassist Joel Stratton, all of whom are UMKC students or alumni.

The theme for this independently organized event, “Big Challenges, Small Solutions” is described by the organizing committee:

“Although our society has made much progress, there are still major challenges facing us today. Some of these challenges are well known, while many are not. However, there are those among us that recognize, react, and resolve those problems. These pioneers, acting in the spirit of ingenuity and altruism, have paved a path to help make the world a better place. They bring awareness to unseen obstacles, and offer creative solutions to tackle them. Innovational in nature and quick in thinking, these individuals strive to expand our horizons by breaking the facade for others to follow and demonstrating that one individual can make a difference.”

For more details about TEDxUMKC, follow on Twitter and like on Facebook.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TEDlike experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event.