Stanford Graduation
The day finally came. Time to put on the cap and gown, but this time a funny looking and strangely named “Master’s hood” as well. I’ll let the photos drive this one, offering a just a taste of the characters that have punctuated my time here.
Jonathan is a circuits ‘blood brother’ of mine — we stuck all the way through 214, 314, and 414 together. A fellow Texan (from El Paso), he also worked at Apple last summer though in the iPhone group. He’s heading to UC San Diego to continue his PhD and move more into bio.
Morris was among the first EE grad students I met — a senior leader in Nader’s VLF group. Morris got his PhD and through his researched traveled all over the world, including Alaska, Antarcita, Tunisia, tiny islands in the South Pacific, southeast Asia, Greenland, Russia, you name it. He hosted a well received Planet Earth viewing party series…on a HD projector no less.
Rafe and I shared one class, the energy efficiency in buildings one. We worked together on the final project building the model home. Along with an tremendous easy going personality, Rafe also DJ’ed the Stanford radio station and I was always amazed at the breadth of his indie/alternative music collection when he brought out his iPhone to play music during our model building sessions. Jordan has nothing on him.
Kevin was with us for Spring quarter Hindi and was a delight to have in class and for our projects. He was a champ for our last video, bringing real acting chops and musical talent to our film. Kevin did his undergrad at Berkeley, and just got his Master’s in Aero Astro. I think he’ll be starting at JPL this summer.
Mozzi (left) and I took a MEMS class together and we earned a Best Project Award in it. With his B.S. and M.S. in EE from Stanford, he’ll be headed to UC San Francisco for his MD/PhD. He’s specializing in biomedical implants. Neil (right) and I met at a going away dinner in PA for Sunish, an iPod intern last summer. Neil had gone to the same school at Sunish for undergrad, and was doing his Master’s in EE at Stanford. Very quickly we realized we had a lot of similar interests. Neil was doing research mostly under a MS&E professor. We ran into each other recently at Old Pro, where he gamefully joined us (me, Greg, Kelly, Brent) for game 7 of the Hurricanes vs his beloved Bruins.
Me with Paul. Paul and I shared entrepreneurial finance together, and sat across from the table during the negotiation exercise for that class. Paul got his Master’s in Management Science and Engineering while working at Agilent, his background is in EE. We hit it off pretty well (share the same kind of temperament), and even ran into each at a career fair where we spoke to the 42U company for nearly an hour. Really great guy.
Karla and Michael. I was walking back from work one day last summer when I ran into Michael in the courtyard outside. I thought “wait, why do I recognize him…oh yeah, he was at the intern lunch for the iPod group.” Indeed, he was interning in the same building in iPod SW. That encounter built over the past year into a good friendship. Michael did his undergrad here in EE but his Master’s in Computer Science. I’ve had wonderful meandering conversations with Michael, and we share interests in data visualization, networks, and even social change. Turns out he lives right across from me in the famous 208 building. Karla is Michael’s girlfriend and she just got her Master’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
At the EE commencement now, with Kamal. Circuits blood brother too — we went through 214, 314, and 414 together. Kamal is the real deal though — he gained a strong reputation as a great TA for many circuits classes, and he served as President of the Hindu Students Council. A real class act too — when I introduced him to my mom, he promptly bent down to touch her feet in respect, as is the proper Hindu greeting. He was paired with the ever-ready-to-laugh Andy in the 414 lab, and we shared many good times there.
My good friend Bikiran, a fellow circuits blood brother too who was with me through 214, 314, and 414. We also took an embedded systems class and were project partners. So many long hours working on our programs. Bikiran is a unique case — born in Maryland but grew up in India, and is someone that you can have all sorts of discussions with, be it politics, sports, international affairs, etc. We had many meaningful discussions about India as well. He’s up in Cambridge, MA with Analog Devices now.
Chris and I were classmates in corporate finance and Chris invited me to join his homework group. We worked well together, then discovered a deep mutual interest in football and sports during our review for the final exam. Chris took the awesome sports management and marketing sequence through the business schoool. He did EE for his undergrad in Colorado and was working at Boeing in socal before coming up to Stanford to do a Master’s in management science and engineering. Our view of the world and values are very much in line, and this crosses over into music as well, as we have swapped many songs and artists. A really strong, great friend to have.
These are just a few of the friends I’ll leave here with.
And of course….
Me and Mom. What to say? Longwinded as I am, I can’t think of anything to write here that would do justice to her love, support, and encouragement.
Headed to Tahoe for the next few days.