TEDx Salford brought together inspirational speakers from around the world to share their passion in fields spanning science, technology, art, media, sport, music and academia.

A highlight of the day was slalom canoeist Etienne Stott who captivated the audience with the story behind his London 2012 Olympic gold medal, overcoming a serious shoulder injury which jeopardised his chances just 15 months before the Games began.

Musician, TV presenter, writer, journalist and star of the last TEDx Salford, John Robb, returned to talk about his long musical career which began with punk band The Membranes in 1977 and continues to the present day with Goldblade.

Poet, rapper and writer, Akala, joined the stage to give a history of hip-hop, arguing that rather than being invented in 1970s New York, it can actually be traced through reggae, jazz, blues and ultimately to the traditions of medieval West Africa.

Other speakers included Sir Ian Wilmut, OBE, the cloning expert who created Dolly the sheep; Professor of Physics at the University of California and spokesperson for the Higgs-Boson experiment, Joe Incandela; and “most dangerous man in the world” Ken Shamrock, American martial arts expert and international wrestler.

The University became a TEDx partner due to its ethos of sharing of knowledge and education for all.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Martin Hall opened the event. He said: “TEDx Salford met all the standards that TED has set across the world: a great initiative by our students.”

Curator Mishal Saeed, Vice-President at the University of Salford’s Students’ Union, said:

“It's a huge privilege to have grown our community ten-fold in such a short time. I'm very pleased to see such a positive response from our attendees and would like to thank my dedicated team for their tireless efforts.”

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