Engineering Alumni Council

Letter from the EAC President

July 2025

Hello Duke Engineering community!

My name is Drew Schmidt, and I’m writing to you as the new President of the Engineering Alumni Council (EAC). I was class of 2006 BME at Pratt, and it’s hard for me to believe that I’m coming up on 20 years since graduation! I can’t help but reflect on how much has changed within the Pratt community in just two decades. But I am also continually amazed at how Pratt continues to grow and thrive.

We recently held our spring EAC meetings centered on the student design fair, the alumni awards banquet, and student project presentations for the next academic year. Each of these events showcased the impressive dynamism of the Pratt community that continues to push the boundaries of engineering innovation, research, and education. If you’re like me, you can’t help but think that these young men and women are incredibly impressive—way more than we were! And frankly, it’s true! Today’s Pratt engineers are a testament to the continued growth of the school and the greater Pratt engineering community.

That community continues to educate aspiring engineers and launch careers and lives that impact the broader global community in innumerable ways. But on a more personal level, it has impacted each of our lives in a meaningful way. Our community of alumni, students, faculty, and staff is our greatest strength. And as the EAC, it’s our mission to serve this community. Our focus the past two years has been connectedness—a theme that emphasizes the strength of our community bonds and seeks to deepen those bonds between alumni and students as well as amongst alumni. Through student mentoring, supporting student projects, recognizing alumni achievements through awards, and regional engagement events for alumni and students, the EAC enables meaningful connections within and across the Pratt community. Going forward, the EAC will continue to focus on connectedness, because there are still many untapped opportunities for our community to learn and grow from one another even far beyond their years at Duke.

I must acknowledge that today is a dynamic and turbulent moment in higher education, which makes our bonds all the more important. Within the EAC, we will continue fostering connections amongst alumni and between alumni and students. And I’ll issue a challenge to everyone reading this: Regardless of your life stage and your last reference point for Pratt, look for opportunities to seek greater connection within the Pratt community.

There is undoubtedly a student who can learn from your experiences post Pratt, no matter what that journey looked like, so consider signing up as a mentor. There is likely someone in your network who deserves recognition for their accomplishments in their field; please nominate them for an alumni award. If you would like to be move involved, consider joining the EAC. If nothing else, I urge you to reach out to a classmate or former professor to check in and learn what they’ve been doing since you last connected.

Regardless of how you seek greater connection, I can assure you that if you give back to the Pratt community, you will receive far more in return. Pratt has always been a remarkable place. Let’s all do our part to make it even more remarkable for years to come.

Andrew R. Schmidt E’06
President, Engineering Alumni Council