December 2018 Commencement at Michigan State University will include more than 380 graduates of the College of Engineering this weekend -- 327 undergraduates, 24 master's and 32 PhDs.
MSU Engineering will celebrate graduation at two ceremonies:
Advanced degrees -- The Advanced Degree Commencement is Friday, Dec. 14, at 3:30 p.m. in MSU's Breslin Center. There will be 24 master's and 32 PhD candidates from the College of Engineering. The ceremony is 1 1/2 hours long. There are no admission tickets required. No bags or purses allowed (see below).
Friday's speaker is former Congresswoman Jane Harman, director, president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She will receive an honorary doctorate of law during the 3:30 p.m. ceremony.
Undergraduates -- The College of Engineering's 327 undergraduates will share graduation services on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. in the Breslin Center with graduates from Agriculture and Natural Resources, Communication Arts and Sciences, Lyman Briggs, Natural Science, and Nursing. The commencement ceremony is two hours long. There are no admission tickets required. No bags or purses allowed (see below).
Saturday's commencement speaker at 2 p.m. is Josette Sheeran, a humanitarian and former head of the UN World Food Programme. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. William Cuzick, currently director of the U.S. Air Force's Systems Technology Office, will receive an honorary doctorate of engineering during that ceremony.
Commencement ceremonies will be live streamed on the commencement website.
Engineering banner
Philipp Waeltermann, a senior in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer science, will carry the Engineering banner during the commencement processional. He is one of 21 MSU graduating seniors who was presented with an MSU Board of Trustees' Award for achieving the highest scholastic average at the close of their last semester. All students receiving this year's Board of Trustees' Award earned a 4.0 GPA during the 2018 Fall Semester.
Waeltermann is an international student from Nordborchen, Germany. At MSU, he was a member of the SAE AutoDrive Challenge team.
Waeltermann spent the summer of 2018 as an autonomous driving intern with Ford in Palo Alto, California. He is interested in autonomous vehicle technologies and has accepted a full time job offer with Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto. He will be working as a research engineer on their autonomous driving and controls team.
No bags or purses - For the safety of attendees, no bags or purses will be permitted in Breslin Center for any commencement ceremonies. Cameras and camcorders are permitted, but cases are prohibited.
No food or beverages — including bottled water — will be allowed, and this applies to graduates, guests and faculty. Breslin Center will offer a limited concessions menu during the ceremonies. Additional prohibited items include noisemakers, selfie sticks, pets, signs and weapons of any form. Breslin Center is a smoke-free facility.
Metal detectors will screen all attendees, so please plan accordingly for processing.
Twitter users are invited to follow along using #MSUGrad18.
Portions of this story courtesy of MSUToday.