LSU Spring 2013 Engineering Graduation Speech
Channel: Andre Wiggins
Date: 19/05/2013

Andre Wiggins speaking at the Spring 2013 College of Engineering Diploma Ceremony.

Transcript:

[Dean Koubek]
... graduates tonight, representing 35 parishes, 14 states, and 28 countries. 431 will receive a baccalaureate degree in their designated field, 28 will receive master's degrees, and 26 will earn their doctorate in philosophy degree. Following in the college tradition, we will now hear a few words from a representative of our graduating class, Andre Wiggins. Andre is our May 2013 class representative and is the son of Paul and Celeste Wiggins is graduating in Computer Science in software engineering. Andre is from Baton Rouge where he attended Catholic High, and after graduation, Andre will begin his career at Microsoft in Seattle. Please join me in welcoming Andre.

[Andre Wiggins]
Thank you Dean Koubek. Fellow graduates, congratulations! You passed physics. All those late nights on web-assign, fighting with the equation editor in WebWork, and living for the infamous green check meaning you can finally go out, have led to tonight. All the tedium of web-based homework has finally brought us here, to our graduation.

After tonight, we will go our separate ways. Some of us will go into industry; others into graduate school, but there is still one last experience that we will all share before we go into the real world: packing.

Inspired by the "100 Things to Do at LSU before Graduating" list that greeted us 4 years ago as we all moved into our dorms, I've applied all the knowledge I have acquired in college to this last shared experience. And tonight I would like to share with you my list of "2 Things to Do before Packing for Life after College."

Number One and most important: Check Facebook. If there is anything college has taught me about how to approach problems is that I must first procrastinate on a social network for at least an hour before doing any real work.

Number Two: Google "how to pack one's entire life into a suitcase". My 4 years in college have also taught me that Google is free, textbooks are not. 

But really, we as engineers enjoy applying our brain to problems such as packing. We just like solving problems 

• Take for example our Civil Engineers. They would build a bigger, sturdier suitcase out of concrete that would float on water. 
• Or our Electrical & Computer Engineers: they would build a robot to pack for them. 
• Our Biological Engineers would build the world's largest trebuchet to launch their luggage to their destination for free.  
• The Computer Scientists in the room, they would write a program to optimize the value stored in their luggage. (It's a real algorithm: Google, Knapsack Problem). 
• Construction management would just start their own construction company to build themselves a personal transportation system to their destination
• Mechanical and Industrial Engineers would build a prototype self-driving hybrid suitcase to deliver itself to its destination
• Environmental Engineers would design a bio-degradable suitcase 
• And finally our Chemical and Petroleum Engineers... well they will make enough money to pay someone to pack for them... However, they are just as hard working as everyone else.

So after all these years of paying to go to college, have we just learned how to waste time designing fancy ways to pack our luggage?

I don't think so.

Almost half a century ago, our grandparents had a mission: to send man to the moon. They inspired a nation and the world.

But now, it's our turn. 

Just as our grandparents inspired us, we owe it to our grandchildren to take on an endeavor so great that we inspire them. It is for this endeavor that our time here has prepared us for. Maybe we will invent a new energy source to power our nation. Maybe we will create the next version of the internet. Or maybe we will build the rocket that will take us back to the moon and beyond. Whatever endeavor it is, make no small plans.

As we walk across this stage tonight and transform from the engineers of tomorrow into the engineers of today, let's not get caught up in the tedious day in, day out troubles. Whether that's working for the green check on some sick real-world, white collar version of WebAssign, or trying to pack billions of transistors onto a single chip, let's endeavor as a generation and the graduating class of 2013 to change to world.

Thank you for listening. Congratulations and see you in the real world!

[Dean Koubek]

Thank you Andre. Following another tradition, the College of Engineering honors the undergraduates who have earned the highest grade point average by awarding them with ...