20 June, 2014
Enrobed in the traditional long black gowns and burgundy hoods worn by thousands of engineers who came before them, the graduating class of 1T4 and 1T3+PEY vibrated with energy as they lined up to parade from University College, around King’s College Circle to Convocation Hall. It was a walk they have made hundreds of times, but only once to their convocation ceremony.
Under sunny skies on the morning of June 18, 226 undergraduate and 56 graduate students from The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering packed into historic Convocation Hall before taking the next step toward their bright futures.
“As you leave campus this month, please know that you are not leaving our community behind,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “You are joining a new part of it—as an alumna or alumnus of U of T Engineering. You follow in the footsteps of over 40,000 Skule alumni who continue to make a difference around the world.” Dean Amon was followed by ECE Professor Jonathan Rose, who delivered the morning’s Convocation Address.
“As engineers, you are uniquely placed to turn your ideas into reality,” said Professor Rose, citing the recent example of an ECE496 capstone project he supervised. The idea was born during a research visit to China, when Professor Rose looked out his hotel room window to see building vanishing into fog in the near distance. He realized it wasn’t fog he was seeing, but air pollution—and perhaps there was a way to measure the air pollution using the image-processing capabilities on his smartphone. In collaboration with Professor Greg Evans in Chemical Engineering, four enterprising fourth-year students turned that foggy idea into reality, in the form of an app to measure air pollution with your phone. Professor Rose urged the graduating students to bring the ideas that excite them most to life with help and teamwork of those they know and trust—their classmates sitting with them in Convocation Hall.
“This was a day of great achievement for our students, and great joy for their families and friends,” said Professor Farid Najm, ECE department chair. “We are proud of all they have accomplished, and hope to keep up with their news as they embark on exciting careers.”
ECE Grad to Watch
Jason Yakimovich (ECE 1T3 + PEY)
Working for Amazon.com—a job many only dream of—is Jason Yakimovich’s back-up plan. Following his undergraduate degree, Yakimovich is delaying his prestigious job offer to pursue a startup idea through the Entrepreneurship Hatchery. The company is called FuelWear, and they make smart clothing for skiers and snowboarders. The startup is his second, following a file sharing software divvyi. After his third year at U of T, Yakimovich also pursued a PEY placement at AMD Inc. in California.
Read about more Engineering Grads to Watch.
See more pictures from ECE Convocation.
More information:
Marit Mitchell
Senior Communications Officer
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
416-978-7997; marit.mitchell@utoronto.ca