2023 Graduation
Congratulations, Class of 2023!
The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas announced 1,683 total graduates at the University’s Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on May 12, 2023, and at three Jonsson School commencement ceremonies held at the Activity Center on May 15, 2023.
Jonsson School Dean Stephanie G. Adams quoted anthropologist and ethnographer Zora Neale Hurston, saying that “There are years that ask questions and years that answer. I believe that your Jonsson School education taught you and prepared you for the lifelong skill of how to answer questions that the future years will bring.”
Many graduates had endured the COVID-19 pandemic, and they completed their final year with a return to normal campus operations. Adams described how she had coined the term “Year of Gratitude” to describe the theme for the academic year of 2022-23. Students posted messages of gratitude on a tree located in the Axxess Atrium expressing why they were grateful, and Adams echoed that she was grateful to serve the school and its students.
Commencement speakers Maaha Sakhia MS’23, Cady Baltz BS’23 and Sukanya Baichwal MS’23 delivered commencement addresses at each of the three ceremonies. Sakhia, who had served previously as president of the Society of Women Engineers, encouraged students to use their skills to serve others. Baltz, a computer science graduate, joked that she had used AI chatbot ChatGPT to write her speech and then emphasized her belief in Jonsson School grads’ ability to adapt and lead through major shifts in technological advancement, and Baichwal encouraged students to move forward with the enthusiasm and curiosity they felt on the first day on campus
Chris Bhatti MA’06, associate dean for external relations in the Jonsson School and assistant vice president of development and alumni relations at the University, welcomed graduates as alumni as school leaders presented the students with passport covers, showing that while the next stage of their journey has begun, they will always have a home at UT Dallas.
Shadi Zaheri PhD’22 has a bright future ahead of her with a position as a computational scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Zaheri returned to Dallas for the hooding ceremony with her dissertation advisor, Dr. Fatemeh Hassanipour from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Commencement Student Speakers
Maaha Sakhia
BS, MS, electrical engineering,
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Cady Baltz
BS, computer science,
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Sukanya Baichwal
MS, computer science,
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Spring 2023 Graduation Ceremonies
| Ceremony Programs | Recording |
|---|---|
| Doctoral Hooding Ceremony | YouTube |
| University Commencement | YouTube |
| Biomedical Engineering Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering Materials Science and Engineering Mechanical Engineering Systems Engineering and Management Telecommunications Engineering | YouTube |
| Computer Science (undergraduate only) Software Engineering | YouTube |
| Computer Science (graduate only) | YouTube |
Commencement Brights
Ammar Ahmed
Ammar Ahmed completed his master’s degree in mechanical engineering and is staying in the Dallas area to work for Texas Instruments Inc.
“I have a job lined up,” Ahmed said, beaming as he and his family lined up for photos.
“I also want to let people know that I am Sudanese,” Ahmed said. “There is a war going on there now. I want to use this degree to give happiness and success back to my family.”
Chesney “Ace” Cherry
A gift from a fellow member of Sigma Lambda Gamma, a multicultural sorority, helped Chesney “Ace” Cherry celebrate graduating.
The gift: a black stole with Greek sorority letters in shocking pink, one of the organization’s colors.
“I am the only one with a black stole,” Cherry said.
The stole complimented her black fingernails and pink hair. Cherry had been dying her hair pink years before she joined the inclusive sorority.
“It definitely helped me be more excited,” she said.
Cherry graduated as a dual major to make herself more marketable.
“I started as computer engineering and really like the hardware part of it so I added in electrical engineering,” she said.
Will Heitman
Will Heitman, computer engineering graduate, gave a final whoosh outside the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center.
Heitman worked alongside Dr. Justin Ruths as team lead of the Nova autonomous driving group.
“I needed to identify what was most important to do with my time,” Heitman said when offering advice to undergraduate students in February during a panel discussion.
“There’s always more to do than what we can accomplish. But I have really enjoyed being an undergraduate researcher – that was important to me.”
Roxanne Sanchez
Roxanne Sanchez decorated her mortarboard with googly eyes of varying sizes and a quote from the movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once” which was released last year and won numerous awards.
Sanchez said the quote inspires her to “appreciate life and all you have been through in life and that everything you have done has led to this moment.”
Sanchez, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, has a job lined up at MedCAD, a medical tech company based in Dallas, as a quality engineer.
Something she is appreciative of that led to this moment of graduating?
“The friends I made at the Department,” she said of faculty and staff members in bioengineering.
