ME celebrated 2023 graduates with a ceremony and celebration on June 11. This year ME awarded 180 bachelor’s, 106 master’s and 24 doctoral degrees.

Students and faculty at the 2023 graduation ceremony.

Thank you to this year’s graduation speaker, Mekonnen Kassa (’94 BSME), a senior director in Cloud Security Product Management at Microsoft, who shared his inspiring story. Originally from Ethiopia, Kassa left his hometown when he was very young and became a refugee in Sudan. Kassa came to the U.S. 35 years ago as part of a refugee resettlement program. While working as a taxi driver, he enrolled in English as a Second Language courses and attended the UW, where he received his degree in mechanical engineering. Watch the video of his speech here. 

We also thank speakers ME Chair and PACCAR Endowed Professor Alberto Aliseda, Emily D’Arcy (‘23 BSME), Elijah Kuska (‘23 PhD), and ME Professor John Kramlich.

Top left: Graduation speaker Mekonnen Kassa (’94 BSME), a senior director in Cloud Security Product Management at Microsoft. Top right: ME Chair and PACCAR Endowed Professor Alberto Aliseda. Bottom left: Graduate student speaker Elijah Kuska (‘23 PhD). Bottom right: Undergraduate student speaker Emily D’Arcy (‘23 BSME).

2023 student awards

Undergraduate Awards

• Outstanding Academic Award: Kaley Hedrick
• Outstanding Research Award: Aaron Maschhoff
• Student Ambassador Award: Anya Prasad
• Outstanding Design Award: Courtney Avioli, Joe Condit, Emily D'Arcy, Jon Marstall, Edwin Miller
• The Social Justice Award 2023: Rola Eltantawy

Graduate Awards

• Mechanical Engineering Distinguished Dissertation Award: Alyssa Spomer
• Mechanical Engineering Excellent Project Award: Megan Taylor
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award: Jenny Guo
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award: Apoorva Patil
• The Social Justice Award 2023: Carlos Sama