Spring Engineering Commencement Ends on a Delightful Note

• severinsky
• hannam
• kiger
• sandborn
• mechanical engineering
• 2009 graduation

ME Undergraduate Advisor Terry Island & ME Graduate

The Clark School's spring 2009 commencement took place on Friday, May 22 at 9 am in the Comcast Center.

Inventor of the Hyperdrive powertrain system and mechanical engineering Visiting Professor Alex Severinsky delivered the commencement speech. Delivering the student commencement speech was mechanical engineering major Phillip Hannam.

The student speaker, Phillip Hannam, encouraged fellow graduates to communicate with people of different backgrounds, joking "We NEED to be able to communicate with those pesky businessmen, Greek mythologists, biologists, architects, artists, economists, mathematicians, politicians, statisticians, teachers and ecologists." Hannam concluded the speech eloquently, with his final thoughts being, "But it is our responsibility, it is our curse, it is our challenge; to fight regardless, as we push the technical boundaries of engineering and the social boundaries of all that engineers can accomplish as leaders of thought in a new world of need." The complete version of his speech can be seen here.

The Clark School also announced the recipients of the Poole & Kent Teaching Award for Senior Faculty and the Faculty Service Award at the ceremony. Mechanical engineering professors Kenneth Kiger and Peter Sandborn both received Pool & Kent Teaching Awards, which is given to senior faculty members for excellence in teaching. Professor Alison Flatau of Aerospace Engineering was the winner of the Faculty Service Award.

After the ceremony, graduates and families attended a reception outside the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building. Light refreshments were served as everyone mingled and celebrated the day. Mechanical engineering graduates received business card holders as gifts from the department.

Congratulations Class of 2009!

The Department of Mechanical Engineering wishes everyone good luck in their future endeavors.

--Lauren Frye ’10, Mechanical Engineering Student Reporter

Published June 9, 2009