{"id":140269,"date":"2023-05-22T19:23:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T23:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/?p=140269"},"modified":"2023-10-26T14:01:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T18:01:23","slug":"ready-to-change-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/2023\/05\/22\/ready-to-change-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready to Change the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

At graduation ceremonies, speakers are confident in 2023 class of Societal Engineers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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

Embrace serendipity. Collaborate and learn with diverse teams. And finally, strive to make a positive impact, Susan Margulies urged graduates as the College of Engineering celebrated its 2023 Commencement exercises. \u201cThe world needs you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Margulies, the National Science Foundation\u2019s assistant director of engineering, addressed nearly 400 bachelor\u2019s degree recipients and their families and ENG faculty on May 20 in Agganis Arena. \u201cAccept that there will be unexpected hurdles and opportunities that will change the pathways and the timing to reach your goals,\u201d she advised the newly minted Societal Engineers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Susan Margulies (center) of the NSF, before delivering the ENG Commencement address. Photo by Matthew Ginn
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEngineers collaborate to yield the most creative solutions,\u201d said Margulies, who was the first faculty member tenured in both the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, leading those institutions\u2019 joint biomedical engineering department. \u201cHowever, to fully understand the problem,\u201d she added, \u201cit is important to have teams with diverse life experiences that are learning and working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Margulies exhorted the graduates to maintain \u201ca sense of urgency for action. The world\u2019s pressing societal problems\u2014food, water, energy, health\u2014need our attention. As engineers, you have the capacity to envision transformational, equitable and resilient solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n