“We are needed!” Keynote speaker tells graduates that the future is bright.

On Friday afternoon, May 11, almost 150 graduates of the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering celebrated the completion of their degrees. Hundreds of family and friends traveled from throughout the state, the nation, and the world to honor their graduate. The departmental Spring Baccalaureate service was also streamed live for those who could not attend in person.

Keynote speaker Michael B. Gwyn, PE, (BSCE 1980) told the graduates that expenditures on infrastructure around the globe are expected to grow at a 20% rate for several years to come and that the demand for civil engineers is growing 11% faster than any other profession. “We are needed,” Gwyn emphasized. “As new graduates, you will be needed to design, build and operate this infrastructure for decades to come.”

Gwyn also noted that when he looked over the CCEE graduation numbers he was struck by the number of women graduating this year which was roughly 30% of the total graduates, compared to only 3 women in the class of 1980.

Numbers at a glance.

107 Undergraduate degrees including Civil Engineering, Construction Engineering, and Environmental Engineering

40 Graduate degrees including 25 Masters degrees in Civil Engineering, 6 Masters degrees in Environmental Engineering, and 11 Ph.Ds.

Ten of the Masters level graduates completed their degree through Engineering Online distance education.

A few photos from the day.