Amazon technologist urges Class of 2024 to try hard, be kind and curious
By Isabella Bachman
The latest cohort of Societal Engineers took the stage at Agganis Arena for the 2024 College of Engineering Undergraduate Commencement. The celebration was part of a series of events honoring this year’s earners of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at Boston University.
Guest speaker Tye Brady (ENG’90) recognized the unique resilience and grit of this particular graduating class. “It was your class who faced Covid as incoming freshmen,” he said. “You found a way to make it work, to help others, and to invest in the greatest gift one can ever give or receive, your education.”
Brady, the chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, imparted a simple motto for graduates to lean into both professionally and personally, “TCB” or “Take care of business,” he said, “by trying your best, choosing kindness, and being curious.”
Of his position at Amazon, Brady said, “I find passion here and have built a career with just 100% trying. Just because you love it, does not mean instant success. On the contrary, it is a series of failures and successes, each with learnings, both good and bad, that allows each of us to reach the next level.”
On choosing kindness, Brady said, “Kindness is the elixir that builds great teams and sets the gold standard with how we should interact with each other. . . . When I look back on my career, it is not the tech that I think of first, but the character of the people who actually developed the tech.”
Brady assured students a fruitful life would follow a “mindset [to] learn and be curious.” Just as “work never gets old, for there is always a learning to be found,” he said, the same applies to all facets of life.
Brady left graduates to ruminate on the following question, “We believe in you. Will you believe in you?”
Student speaker Yousuf Shehadi reinforced Brady’s message on the importance of kindness, saying, “Friends and family in the audience, sitting in front of you, are [321] of the brightest, most hardworking, most resilient, but most importantly, kindest engineers in the world.”
Shehadi, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, shared how kindness has anchored his experience as an engineer. “BU Engineering really reinforces the idea of the Societal Engineer,” he said, “and has invested a lot of energy to ensure we have the necessary skill set to alleviate some of this world’s pressures, and ensure equal economic opportunity for everyone… because at its core, this is a discipline of empathy and improving the human condition.”
“Be proud of each other,” Shehadi concluded. “Be proud of how far you’ve come. And most importantly, be proud to BU!”
Dean ad interim Elise Morgan also addressed the class, expressing a message of promise and enthusiasm for the graduates. “Three weeks ago, you all presented your senior capstone design projects, and you lit up the rooms,” she said. “Technical mastery, polished communication skills, excitement and pride in your work. . . . That’s a powerful combination, and it was on full display.”
Indicative of the class’ academic excellence, there was a three-way tie for valedictorian: Pranet Sharma, Pen Qiu (Pong Chui), and Timothy Borunov shared the honor.
As for faculty, Associate Professor Michael Smith (BME), Professor Roberto Paiella (ECE), and Assistant Professor Sean Lubner (ME) each earned their Department Award for Teaching Excellence. Master Lecturer Caleb Farny (ME) was voted Professor of the Year. Associate Professor Mary Dunlop (BME) earned the Faculty Service Award.
At the ENG Graduate Convocation, held earlier in the week in the Case Center, Sharad Rastogi (ENG’91) addressed an audience of 53 doctoral degree recipients and 178 master’s degree recipients, and their families and guests. Rastogi is the CEO of Work Dynamics Technology at Jones Lang LaSalle, and a member of the ENG Dean’s Leadership Advisory Board.
“Boston University changed the trajectory of my life,” said Rastogi, who came to Boston from India to earn his master’s degree in mechanical engineering. “I’m excited to see how BU will impact your lives as well.”
As they contemplate their own paths ahead, Rastogi urged the graduates, “Solve hard problems which excite you. The harder the problem you solve, the greater the value you create.”
These graduates, especially, are “fully capable of solving complex problems right now,” Rastogi added. “BU has trained you to be Societal Engineers: you are logical, data driven. You can work across disciplines and apply technology to solve real world problems. You know how to work hard and persevere.
“Take advantage of the wonderful developments that have come before you to tackle the challenges that lie ahead of you. Go test your skills to the maximum, go solve the problems that are most compelling to you. Dream big and do something meaningful!”
Reporting contributed by Patrick L. Kennedy