Graduating Seniors’ Ceremonies
Ahead of the fall 2023 commencement ceremony on Dec. 16, the Island University held its Graduating Seniors’ Recognition, Order of the Engineer Induction Ceremony, and Capstone Presentation Awards on Dec. 15.
The first part of the ceremony consisted of a recognition of graduating seniors by the Chairs of the Department of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science, Drs. David Bridges and Chandra Sekharan. The second part of the ceremony, Order of the Engineer, invited qualified students to accept the Obligation of the Engineer and a stainless-steel ring. The 26 students and three faculty members who participated in the ceremony learned more about the history and significance of the ring and then recited a pledge that stated each engineer would work ethically and with integrity. The stainless-steel ring is worn on the little finger of the working hand, indicating every action done with the working hand belongs to a devoted and dignified engineer.
“This ring means keeping the greater good of the public in mind as an engineer,” said Viviana Perez ’23, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. “To be a great engineer is to put personal benefit aside and try to elevate society with your hard work, which is why the pledge is an important part of the ceremony. This ring also signifies one of the final milestones of graduating and all the dedication I put into my degree.”
Once all participants received their rings, the third part of the ceremony, the Capstone Presentation Awards, took place. A capstone is a year-long project that all Islander engineering seniors must complete. These graduating students took two classes to prepare and create their capstone — Project Management and Capstone Projects. At the awards ceremony, the top three projects were recognized.
The fall 2023 first-place capstone project winner was “Developing a Wireless Submersible Autonomous Vehicle for Search and Rescue: SAR-SAVr.” The goal of the project was to create a submersible autonomous drone that aids search and rescue. Using machine vision to detect a person in the water, the drone sends the coordinates to a GPS to help locate the person in distress or danger. Lorryn Berry ’23 obtained her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and is part of the group that won first place.
“TAMU-CC has given its students a lot of tools for collaboration,” Berry said. “An example of this is the capstone experience because we got to work on a multidisciplinary team and solve problems together. Having this collaborative background is something a lot of companies value in potential candidates. So, I am grateful that the university provides us with opportunities to work on so many skills, like group collaboration.”