Transcript of Associate Dean Waleed Meleis’s Remarks
Hello graduates, families, and friends. I am Waleed Meleis, Associate Dean for Graduate Education in the College of Engineering, and I am excited to be speaking with you today on this milestone in your lives.
Making the choice to continue your education at the graduate level—both a masters or doctorate—is a significant commitment. We understand for many at this point, life has gotten more complex with family, finances, and other considerations. Despite this, you said yes to the challenge and forged ahead to pursue an advanced degree regardless of the hard work and personal sacrifices undoubtedly ahead. And with that, today, after many early mornings, late nights, long hours, and missed social activities, I am thrilled to congratulate all of you on graduating from Northeastern’s College of Engineering! Well done.
There are many paths in our graduate programs. Some of you balanced work and school, while others committed full time to studies. Some focused on research within their program and others specialized in industry-aligned fields. Many of you also participated in a variety of experiences such as co-op, student clubs, and competitions for both enjoyment and to expand your professional abilities and network. Regardless of your path, our rigorous, experiential, and multidisciplinary program has developed you to be experts in your chosen discipline. It has also prepared you to be next-generation engineering leaders capable of addressing complex challenges to make an impact in the world for the benefit of people.
Being an engineer at the graduate level puts you in a distinguished position. You have even more knowledge and experience to bring forward to pioneer solutions and drive innovation in the 21st century. I encourage you to use your knowledge boldly to make a difference. I hope as you cross the bridge to being an alumni that you will continue to stay connected to us. Today you join our 45000 strong alumni community around the globe. I know I speak for all of our faculty, advisors, and the administration when I say that we will miss you and hope you will stay in touch. I also invite you to become active alumni members by helping the students after you.
Once again, Congratulations on this outstanding and well-deserved accomplishment. We are all very proud of you and wish you much success as your journey continues.
Back to Congratulatory Event for the COE Class of 2020 Graduates
Combinatorial optimization, function approximation for large-scale machine learning, platforms for large-scale social experimentation, assistive technology