Albany Campus hosts commencement ceremony

SUNY Poly honored 66 students who earned undergraduate or advanced degrees at commencement exercises held on Saturday, May 19 at its Albany campus.

The ceremony took place after SUNY Poly bestowed degrees during the institution’s 44^th annual Utica campus commencement, with ceremonies held on Friday, May 4 for those graduating with graduate degrees, and on Saturday, May 5 for students graduating with undergraduate degrees. In total, more than 700 students were recognized during ceremonies held at both SUNY Poly campuses.

The keynote speaker at the Albany campus ceremony was Dr. Douglas Grose, who will lead the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science (NY CREATES) as president. The new non-profit organization aims to further enable industry-oriented next-generation R&D and economic development projects in the region and across New York State. Dr. Grose most recently served as CEO of GlobalFoundries and has extensive semiconductor industry experience.

Sixty-six graduate and undergraduate students, including thirty-seven from New York State and several international students, were honored during the commencement ceremony which took place at SUNY Poly’s Zero Energy Nanotechnology (ZEN) Building at the Albany NanoTech Complex. Fifteen students earned Ph.D.’s, eight earned master’s degrees, and of the 43 undergraduate students attending the institution’s Albany campus who were awarded Bachelor of Science degrees, 10 graduated with a Nanoscale Science concentration and 33 had a Nanoscale Engineering concentration.

As the graduating students join a growing number of SUNY Poly alumni, many plan to pursue a variety of career or educational opportunities. Of those graduate students who have definitive career or educational plans after graduation, half have already accepted positions at prestigious corporations, especially those with efforts focused on semiconductor research and development, such as at GlobalFoundries, in Malta, NY, or IBM in Albany, NY, or they have secured opportunities at organizations such as Oak Ridge National Laboratories, among others. One graduate in particular was awarded $350,000 to work on his startup company while receiving a post-doctoral appointment to the national lab.

A number of graduating students are also choosing to continue their work by pursuing other advanced degrees in New York State, with several planning to continue their education by enrolling in SUNY Poly’s nano-based Ph.D. programs. Of those undergraduate students with definitive post-graduation plans, half have already secured positions with advanced technology-focused corporations, such as Tokyo Electron, which has its TEL Technology Center America located on the SUNY Poly Albany campus, with many expecting to pursue graduate studies at top institutions around the country, including Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, SUNY Poly, and Yale University, among others.