Graduation 2002

Members of the College of Engineering Class of 2002 received their diplomas on Saturday, April 27, at Crisler Arena. Stephen W. Director, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, addressed the assembly, as did University of Michigan Regent Rebecca McGowan. And in the CoE tradition of inviting alumni class representatives to welcome new graduates into the ranks of alumni, the convocation recognized Joseph Scheuring (BSE ME ’92), Michael Ableson (BSE ME ’82), Janice Breedon Jones (BS MAT, BS Chem ’72), Tom Bredt (BSE SE ’62) and Raymond Decker (BSE MTL ’52, MSE ’55, PhD ’98).

The 2002 Class President Kristin Witt made her remarks, then presented the class gift: a trio of benches that will reside in a grassy area near the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Tower.

Next, Charla (Kamm) Wise (BSE AS ’75) delivered the commencement address, entitled “Quality Moments: What We Live For.” Wise, a vice president for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company and an aerospace industry professional for 26 years, spoke about the various events of the previous eight months—particularly September 11—that had changed the world, our way of life and the issues that normally affect new graduates.

“Most of you will be going out in the world,” she said, “so I’d like you to think for a moment about the global situation and where you fit as an Engineering graduate from the University of Michigan.

“Consider this: The world population is 6.1 billion people. The U.S. population over age 15 is 214 million. Of that U.S. population, you are now joining an elite group of 32 million—less than 15 percent—who hold college degrees. Of those with college degrees, engineers number about 1.5 million, in 25 recognized specialties. This is where you and I, as engineers, fit in: There is, and will be, a desperate need for intelligent, aggressive, innovative people like you to help translate the technologies of today into detailed solutions for our national defense, and to keep our national and world economies strong and moving forward.

“Therefore, leadership is a theme for today. As a Michigan grad, you will be expected to be a leader. My words of advice for you: Lead fearlessly. Also, you are a very select group of individuals—now highly educated—and with this privilege comes responsibility.”

CoE Drum Major Matt Cavanaugh enrolled at the University of Michigan in the fall of 1998. His objective: to pursue majors in engineering and history. He’s done exactly that — and more. Matt, who also has a good deal of musical talent, took his trombone to the U-M gridiron, playing for the Michigan Marching Band and serving as rank leader for the past two seasons. During the 2002-2003 season he’s assumed a new title: the “Man up Front” —the leader of U-M’s renowned Marching Band.

Wise concluded her remarks by listing some of the values that she believes are important. “Make a difference,” she said. “Leave this world a better place; be ethical and always maintain your integrity; be civil; know when to lead; love your country—be patriotic; vote; say please, thank you, and I’m sorry; never be the first to break a family tradition; and, last but not least, call your mother!”

CAPTION “There is, and will be, a desperate need for intelligent, aggressive, innovative people like you to help translate the technologies of today into detailed solutions for our national defense, and to keep our national and world economies strong and moving forward.” — Charla Wise

Aero Students Do Mars Design Study at NASA Facility

Working with NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Dave Hyland, chair, Aerospace Engineering, and Aero Professor Pierre Kabamba conducted a semester-long student design study for the return of a sample from Mars. The study was part of the capstone senior design course that culminated with Hyland and 10 Aerospace students traveling to the NASA JPL Project Design Center in Pasadena, California, to do conceptual design work for a Mars Sample Return study that’s slated for launch no sooner than 2014. The CoE engineers were the only college students who

Bryan King Builds Collaborative Program for BME

Bryan King, a first-year medical student as well as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering (BME), helped to recruit students from historically black colleges to participate in a formal collaborative program involving BME and Xavier University. King is the founder and president of B-Sure, the BME underrepresented minority student organization.

Tomas Sirgedas a TopCoder Finalist

Tomas Sirgedas (BSE CE ’01), a graduate student instructor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was one of 16 finalists who competed in the TopCoder Collegiate Challenge tournament, April 19-20 at MIT. The finalists surfaced from a field of 512 competitors who took part in a series of online elimination rounds. Sirgedas, who didn’t win, said that he loved being a participant. “TopCoder has single-round matches twice a week,” Sirgedas said, “so I’ve always tried to compete in those. I’ve always like programming and algorithms. Even without prizes, I’d participate. I like the challenge and the competition.”

Randy Bartels Selected to Attend Convention of Nobel Laureates

Randy Bartels (MSE EECS ’99, PhD ’02) was selected by the Department of Energy as one of 31 outstanding research participants to attend the 51st convention of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, June 25-29. The participants were selected from among researchers who receive funding from the DOE and are working at universities, national laboratories or other federal facilities.

Dan Ketchum—Pooling His Talents

The U-M athletic department selected Dan Ketchum, a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering, as the University’s 2001-2002 Michigan Male Athlete of the Year—the first swimmer to earn the title since 1996. Ketchum, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, took home honors as the Big Ten’s Swimmer of the Year. He set Big Ten and school records in the 200-yard freestyle, and anchored the freestyle relay team, which set records for the Big Ten 800-yard freestyle and the school 400-yard freestyle.