For this, the first ever TechTalks competition, the competitors will be asked a deceptively simple question: Why does society need science?

The competitors include:

• Tessa Solomon-Lane, a neuroscience Ph.D. student at Georgia State University
• Zev Greenberg, an undergraduate student in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech
• Natalie Schloeder, a Ph.D. student in the School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech
• Mahdi Al Husseini, an undergraduate student in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University
• Nick Selby, an undergraduate student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech

John D. Cressler, the Schlumberger Chair Professor in Electronics in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will give the keynote address at this exciting, inaugural event. Cressler's TEDx talk, "The Many Miracles of Microelectronics," is a lucid description of how technology is paramount in changing the world we live in.

About TechTalks

TechTalks is a Georgia Tech-based oratorical competition aimed at giving students the opportunity to communicate scientific ideas to general audiences. This competition is part of the Atlanta Science Festival's main activities.