With processions to the swelling strains of \u201cPomp and Circumstance,\u201d inspiring orations, and the cheers and tears of supportive families in the stands, the Boston University College of Engineering (ENG) formally conferred the credentials of a Societal Engineer<\/a> onto graduates of the Class of 2026. More than 540 bachelor\u2019s recipients and many of this year\u2019s 120 doctoral and 330 master\u2019s graduates were celebrated in two separate ceremonies in the days leading up to the University’s Commencement on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe work you do\u2014in industry, in research, in academia, or in a startup that doesn\u2019t yet exist\u2014can reverberate far beyond any single laboratory or conference room,\u201d said ENG Dean Elise F. Morgan<\/a>, the Maysarah K. Sukkar Professor of Engineering Design & Innovation, in her speech to graduate candidates. \u201cThat is the promise of engineering. And it is the responsibility that comes with your degree.\u201d<\/p>\n Boston University President Emeritus Robert A. Brown<\/a> delivered the address at the graduate convocation and doctor of philosophy hooding ceremony on Thursday, May 14, in the Case Center Gymnasium. A professor of engineering and a professor of computing and data sciences, Brown led BU from 2005 to 2023. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and his book Fighting Fires and Building Flywheels: How We Sustain America\u2019s Research Universities <\/i>is forthcoming from MIT Press.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are graduating at an inflection point in the world\u2019s history\u2014I can say \u2018inflection point\u2019 because I am talking to engineers,\u201d said Brown. \u201cIt seems trite to say that technology is changing our world at a rate never seen before in the history of man. Hasn\u2019t this always been true? . . . This time feels different, more pervasive, and much more complex.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet, Brown expressed confidence that this year\u2019s graduates can make a difference. \u201cI dream that you can be successful because<\/i> of the technology,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the world that you must make a better place, and you can. You understand the science and technologies transforming society. You know how to work on complex problems and the value of teaming with people from different backgrounds and perspectives to create solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cMy call is for you to use your intelligence and imagination to address society\u2019s biggest challenges\u2014and we have plenty of them: affordable quality healthcare, food security, protection of our planet, and peace between the people and nations of the world,\u201d Brown continued. \u201cWhether you develop sensors and software to help farmers grow better crops, or invent devices that help the elderly live more independent lives, you can combine your love of science and engineering with sensitivity to the needs of others. If you do, you will have enormous impact and a rewarding career.\u201d<\/p>\n In her remarks, Morgan praised the persistence of the red-robed graduates. \u201cI suspect each of you carries a private catalog of difficult moments from your time here,\u201d she said. \u201cMoments when nothing worked, when the data made no sense, when the elegant solution you had envisioned simply refused to materialize. Every failed prototype, every stubborn line of buggy code that consumed your nights\u2014each of those was not a detour from your education. It was <\/i>your education. Persistence in the face of failure is the defining trait of the engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n That trait will serve the newly minted professionals well \u201cat a time of incredible complexity,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cAt this moment of uncertainty and disruption, I stand here with genuine, evidence-based hope because of you, and because of what you carry with you as you leave here,\u201d including \u201chard-won resilience,\u201d a sense of purpose, and the ability to work with colleagues from all over the globe.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you leave here with adaptability,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cThe engineering instinct that when the design fails, you don\u2019t abandon the goal; you rethink the approach.\u201d<\/p>\n The sidewalks around Agganis Arena were clogged with festive foot traffic on Saturday, May 16, as thousands of parents, siblings, grandparents, and other supporters arrived for the ENG bachelor\u2019s degree ceremony. Once inside, the soon-to-be graduates heard four life lessons from commencement speaker Brian Dunkin<\/a> (ENG\u201985), vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer for the endoscopy division at Boston Scientific. These four lessons were based on Dunkin\u2019s zigzagging career as a biomedical engineer, an advanced laparoscopic surgeon, and a leader in medicine, academia, and the medical device industry.<\/p>\n First, \u201cCareer decisions are rarely a one-way street,\u201d Dunkin said. \u201cWhen faced with what appears to be a high-stakes career decision, make the best decision you can with the information at hand, and have no regrets. You can always pivot, and, at the very least, you\u2019ll have a life experience to learn from and a line to add to your resume.\u201d<\/p>\n Second, \u201cIn life, try to have a magnifying effect.\u201d When Dunkin had the opportunity to train new surgeons in the growing field of laparoscopic surgery, he saw how the work of one person could ripple across countless others\u2019 lives. That\u2019s why he later took a job at Boston Scientific; because he could see its potential for a magnifying effect. \u201cMy division manufactures medical devices that touch 27 patients a minute in 133 countries around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Third, adapting a line from the STEM-heavy novel and film The Martian,<\/i> \u201cSometimes you just have to engineer the s\u2014t out of it.\u201d That\u2019s how Dunkin felt when he was recruited to build a surgical endoscopy training program at the University of Miami. \u201cI had never designed or built a clinical space before, but I broke the problem down into smaller elements as if no one had ever done it, and then solved each one.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, Dunkin related a harrowing, not-for-the-squeamish story of a surgery beset by complications. Dunkin went the extra mile with the patient, who eventually recovered. The lesson? \u201cBad times have their own timeline before they become good,\u201d said Dunkin. \u201cTry to endure with grace, diligence, and patience.\u201d<\/p>\n Pippi Pi (ENG\u201926) delivered the baccalaureate address on Saturday. A computer engineering major, Pi served as the secretary and software lead for the BU Mars Rover Club, overseeing aspects of the development of an autonomous vehicle capable of navigating Martian terrain. She is moving to Redmond, Washington, to join Microsoft as a machine learning engineer, and she plans to launch her own startup someday.<\/p>\n \u201cIn your family, you are now officially known as \u2018The Nerd,\u2019\u201d Pi said to the knowing laughter of her classmates. \u201cThe one who gets the honorable duty of fixing every computer, printer, and Wi-Fi router in the house, no matter how many times you explain, \u2018I\u2019m not that kind of engineer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this degree proves isn\u2019t that you have all the answers,\u201d said Pi. \u201cIt proves that you now possess the tools and the grit to face problems that don\u2019t come with instructions. It proves you know how to sit in uncertainty and still move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n In the next decade or two, Pi said, she expects some of her classmates to design life-saving medical devices, city-saving infrastructure, and more. Some will move into fields other than engineering, and \u201csome of us may end up in roles that don\u2019t even have a title yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Wherever they came from and wherever they\u2019re going, Pi said the members of the BU ENG Class of 2026 will always have a few important things in common: \u201cWhat defines us together is the spirit of curiosity, our tenacity in the face of failure, and our shared mission to make a lasting impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Not for the first time, multiple students tied for valedictorian status this year. Mechanical engineering (ME<\/a>) majors Dylan List, William Maharry, and Akemi Zollinger each had a perfect 4.0 average.<\/p>\n Morgan also announced that the senior class selected Assistant Professor Sean Lubner<\/a> (ME, MSE<\/a>) as the recipient of the 2026 College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award. In addition, Biomedical Engineering (BME<\/a>) Lecturer Andy Fan<\/a>, Associate Professor Lei Tian<\/a> (ECE<\/a>, BME), and Assistant Professor Andrew Sabelhaus<\/a> (ME, SE<\/a>) earned departmental awards for teaching excellence.<\/p>\n Professor Kamal Sen<\/a> (BME) received the award for Teaching Excellence in the Core Curriculum, while Assistant Professor Stormy Attaway<\/a> (ME) earned the Faculty Service Award.<\/p>\n Carolyn Marar won the 2026 PhD Societal Impact Award for her dissertation, \u201cMicrowaves for Bi-modal Neuromodulation: Mechanisms and Translation.\u201d Distinguished Professor Ji-Xin Cheng<\/a> (ECE, BME, MSE) served as her advisor. Jeffrey Lim earned the Master\u2019s Societal Impact Award for \u201cTowards Open-Source Platforms for Researching Proprietary Cloud Service.\u201d Ariane Garrett earned the PhD Entrepreneurial Award for a technique she developed called speckle contrast optical spectroscopy for cuffless blood pressure estimation.<\/p>\n The following doctoral students earned awards for outstanding dissertations.<\/p>\n Emma Stowe, \u201cAging and Senescence Dysregulate Tendon Adaptation to Mechanical Load.\u201d Advisor: Assistant Professor Brianne Connizzo<\/a> (BME, ME).<\/p>\n Pujan Paudel, \u201cData-driven Approaches for Improving the Identification of Misleading Content Online.\u201d Advisor: Associate Professor Gianluca Stringhini<\/a> (ECE).<\/p>\n Daniel Shahar, \u201cHigh-Dimensional Orbital Angular Momentum Entanglement in Optical Fibers.\u201d Advisor: Distinguished Professor of Engineering Siddharth Ramachandran<\/a> (ECE, Physics, MSE).<\/p>\n Monan Ma, \u201cFundamentals of Nonlinear Nanomechanical Resonators: Actuation, Scaling, and Fluctuation-Driven Dynamics.\u201d Advisor: Professsor Kamil Ekinci<\/a> (ME, MSE).<\/p>\n Wenlu Wang, \u201cElectrodeposition of Polymer Networks as Conformal Ultrathin Coatings.\u201dAdvisor: Assistant Professor J\u00f6rg Werner<\/a><\/span> (ME, MSE).<\/span><\/p>\nInflection point<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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What you leave here with<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Engineer the s\u2014t out of it.<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Problems that don\u2019t come with instructions<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Special distinctions<\/b><\/h4>\n
Dissertation awards<\/b><\/h4>\n
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