{"id":107707,"date":"2021-05-20T11:24:30","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T15:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/?p=107707"},"modified":"2022-10-21T16:49:51","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T20:49:51","slug":"global-threats-need-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/2021\/05\/20\/global-threats-need-you\/","title":{"rendered":"“Global Threats Need You”"},"content":{"rendered":"

2021 Class of Societal Engineers Celebrated<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

By Michael Seele and Patrick L. Kennedy<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a call to continue their dedication to being Societal Engineers after earning their degrees, the College of Engineering\u2019s Class of 2021 celebrated its graduation with virtual Commencement Exercises last weekend. Ceremonies for bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral graduates were held on May 14 and 15.<\/p>\n

In addition to awarding 425 bachelor\u2019s degrees, 254 master’s degrees and 57 doctoral degrees, the College recognized no less than three valedictorians, and presented Societal Engineering Awards and several faculty honors at the ceremonies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we truly ready to change the world?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an unprecedented triple tie, three members of the Class of 2021 were named valedictorian: \u00a0Ethan Po-Yi Hung (CE); Daniel Wolfe Bradford (ME); and Mason Roy DaSilva (ME). All graduated summa cum laude.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of them earned a GPA of 4.0 over their entire four years,\u201d College of Engineering Dean Kenneth Lutchen said at the ENG Virtual Block Party<\/a>. \u201cNot one faculty could think of a single reason to give them an A-minus.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Aditya Jain (’21)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the Commencement Convocation<\/a>, student speaker Aditya Jain spoke about his classmates\u2019 qualifications to tackle pressing global challenges. \u201cAre we truly ready to change the world? I believe the answer is yes,\u201d he said. \u201cThrough the principles of societal engineering, our time at Boston University has taught us three key lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cited systems-level problem solving, passion for their work, and teamwork. During one late-night session in Ingalls, as Jain collaborated on an automated hydroponic system, \u201cI suddenly realized Professor [Gerald] Fine\u2019s genius. By assigning us as a team with a biomedical, mechanical, computer, and electrical engineer, we were able to bring together different backgrounds and experiences to find new solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean Lutchen, in his remarks, agreed that Jain\u2019s classmates have all the attributes of the Societal Engineer. But he pointed to two additional attributes they have that will serve them well in the coming years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, the capacity and drive to work really hard on problems,\u201d said Lutchen. \u201cThere\u2019s no major that had to work as hard as you did in engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secondly, Lutchen said, \u201cYou\u2019re an engineer and a scientist. That makes you able to understand and apply the scientific method as the only way to determine truth on how things work, be they nature or invented by humans. More important, you appreciate the power of this method.\u201d<\/p>\n

What that means, Lutchen added, is that ENG graduates have a responsibility to not only apply but also advocate for the scientific method. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen time and again the damage caused by science deniers who feel data is irrelevant if it suggests something they prefer not to believe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Scientists and engineers made the COVID-19 vaccines possible, helping dig the world out of one crisis, Lutchen said, and it will be scientists and engineers who will navigate us through humanity\u2019s most urgent crisis: climate change. \u201cGlobal threats need you,\u201d Lutchen said.<\/p>\n

Graduate programs\u2019 rapid growth and impact<\/strong><\/p>\n

In both the master\u2019s<\/a> and PhD<\/a> hooding<\/span> celebrations, Lutchen praised the dedication and commitment shown by the degree earners over several years of study, and spoke of the strides that ENG has made in recent decades. More than 300 master’s and doctoral degrees were awarded in 2020\u20132021.<\/p>\n

Today, ENG is ranked 16th among private graduate engineering programs in the U.S., and 36th out of all 210 graduate engineering programs in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report<\/em>. That puts BU above Yale, Vanderbilt, Rochester University, and other elite institutions, Lutchen noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have taken on a degree that will ground you in your professional aspirations to advance technology to improve the world,\u201d said Lutchen. \u201cIt prepares you and obligates you to continuously question the basic tenets of your field, to advance the forefront of knowledge, and to identify ways of partnering to translate your knowledge to create engineering innovations that can impact society and improve quality of life for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Awards for graduates and faculty<\/strong><\/p>\n

As is customary, several awards were announced during Commencement events. The Departmental Awards for Teaching Excellence went to Instructor Aleks Zosuls (BME), Professor Hamid Nawab (ECE), and Professor Paul Barbone (ME). And Professor Catherine Klapperich won the ENG Teaching Excellence Award.<\/p>\n

Professor Prakash Ishwar (ECE, SE) earned the Faculty Service Award for his efforts in leading the creation of a new undergraduate machine learning concentration.<\/p>\n

Klapperich and Professor Doug Densmore earned a special Societal Engineering Impact Award for their extraordinary self-sacrifices in building the nation\u2019s premier independent COVID-19 surveillance testing facilities<\/a>, allowing the Boston University community to continue pursuing life goals in education and research.<\/p>\n

Several graduate students earned ENG\u2019s Societal Impact Awards. \u201cThese awards recognize a project, thesis, or practicum that focuses on an important societal challenge through the innovative application of technology,\u201d said Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs Sol Eisenberg (BME, ECE) during the master\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Among master\u2019s students, the two winners were Pierre-Francois Wolfe and Christine McKee. For doctoral theses, the Societal Impact Awards went to Yijia Zhang and Fulya Kanik.<\/p>\n

Three teams of bachelor\u2019s degree graduates won Societal Impact Awards: Phoebe Ato, Nogaye Ka, and Pallavi Balivada; Sean Jang, William Willette, Leandro Mang, and Janice Noh; and \u00a0Shreya Banga, McKenna Damschroder, Vanessa Giron, Se\u2019Lina Lasher, and Kaito Yamagishi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2021 Class of Societal Engineers Celebrated By Michael Seele and Patrick L. Kennedy With a call to continue their dedication to being Societal Engineers after earning their degrees, the College of Engineering\u2019s Class of 2021 celebrated its graduation with virtual Commencement Exercises last weekend. Ceremonies for bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral graduates were held on May […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[236],"tags":[344,569,570,562,376],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131384,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107707\/revisions\/131384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}