Duke Engineering Celebrates the Class of 2021

5/12/21 Pratt School of Engineering

During May 2-8, Duke's Pratt School of Engineering celebrated the achievements of 771 new Duke Engineers

Duke's Class of 2021 gathers outdoors to spell 2-0-2-1
Duke Engineering Celebrates the Class of 2021

Nearly 800 undergraduate and graduate engineering students earned their degrees from Duke University this month. Many graduates attended the first in-person commencement exercises in nearly two years. Families and friends around the world watched live online, and thousands more watched the video replay of the ceremony in the hours and days after the ceremony.

For the Class of 2021, Duke and the Pratt School of Engineering planned limited, in-person commencement ceremonies:

  • Undergraduates gathered on Sunday, May 2, in Wallace Wade Stadium
  • Engineering master’s students were celebrated on Monday, May 3, in Cameron Indoor Stadium
  • Recognition for PhD graduates was organized by Duke’s Graduate School during an online ceremony on Sunday, May 8

Photos, Video & More

engineering master's ceremony in Cameron Indoor Stadium

Facts & Figures

For the 2020-2021 academic year, the faculty of the Pratt School of Engineering awarded:

  • 88 PhDs
  • 200 Master of Science
  • 76 Master of Engineering
  • 106 Master of Engineering Management, Campus program
  • 24 Master of Engineering Management, Online
  • 277 Bachelor of Science in Engineering

Altogether, the Duke Engineering Class of 2021 includes 771 graduates.

(Please note: These figures were updated on May 13, 2021 to reflect full 2020-2021 academic year totals.)

Congratulations from Dean Bellamkonda

“The world needs individuals and teams who are unafraid to make the world better, who don’t wait for others to act or invent a new way. It needs YOU to be outrageously ambitious for yourself and the person you can be.”

Ravi V. Bellamkonda | Vinik Dean of Engineering

Class of 2021 Awards and Honors

PhD Awards

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Doctoral Dissertation Award

  • Chia-Han Chiang
  • Sean Hunter Kelly

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Outstanding Scholar Award

  • Christopher Luke Krapu
  • Tongshu Zheng

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Outstanding Dissertation Award

  • Linghao Song

Outstanding Service Award

  • Ruren Zhang

Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Outstanding Dissertation Award

  • Victor Wen-zhe Yu
  • Peiran Zhang

Undergraduate Awards

Pratt School Awards

Walter J. Seeley Scholastic Award

Presented annually by the Engineering Student Government to the member of the graduating class who has achieved the highest scholastic average in all subjects, and who has shown diligence in pursuit of an engineering education. Initiated to honor the spirit of academic excellence and professional diligence demonstrated by the late Dean Walter J. Seeley.

  • Xiying Deng
  • Boyu (Tony) Guo
  • Audrey Noel McManemin
  • Jason Kent Stranne

Otto Meier, Jr. Tau Beta Pi Award

Presented in recognition of Dr. Meier’s leadership in establishing the North Carolina Gamma Chapter on January 10, 1948, and his continuous service until April 19, 1975, as the chapter advisor. Given annually to the graduating member of Tau Beta Pi who best symbolizes the distinguished scholarship and exemplary character required for membership.

  • William Robert Durbin

Pratt School of Engineering Student Service Award

Established in 1978 and given to graduating seniors who, by contributions of time, effort and spirit, have significantly benefitted the community of the Pratt School of Engineering.

  • Samuel Sydney Rabinowitz

Biomedical Engineering

da Vinci Award

Presented to the Biomedical Engineering senior with the most outstanding academic record, as determined by a faculty committee. Commemorates the contributions of Leonardo da Vinci in laying the foundation of the mechanistic study of human life.

  • Boyu (Tony) Guo
  • Jason Kent Stranne

Helmholtz Award

Given to a graduating senior who presents the best research project, as judged by department faculty. Commemorates the work of Hermann von Helmholtz in laying the foundation of biomedical engineering.

  • Stephanie Ann Crater

Edward D. “Ned” Light Memorial Award

Given to a Pratt Research Fellow in biomedical engineering with the best engineering design project, as judged by a faculty committee. Established in 2012 in memory of Ned Light, who worked for at Duke 22 years—pioneering research in real-time 3D ultrasound imaging and mentoring a host of undergraduate students both in the lab and in life skills.

  • Emily Cloud Barre

Theo C. Pilkington Memorial Award

Established in 1993 by the Whitaker Foundation as an endowment award in memory of Dr. Pilkington, founding chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The recipient is selected at the end of the junior year and the award is given in recognition of outstanding perseverance and accomplishment in the study of biomedical engineering.

  •  Canyon Fray Duncan

Civil & Environmental Engineering

American Society of Civil Engineering Outstanding Senior Prize

Presented annually to a graduating civil engineering senior in recognition of an exceptional, positive impact on the Duke student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineering.

  • Samantha Renee Wind

William Brewster Snow Environmental Engineering Award

Established in 1979 and presented annually to seniors who have demonstrated academic excellence, interest, and enthusiasm in the study of environmental engineering.

  • Renata Rae Starostka

Aubrey E. Palmer Award

Established in 1980 and presented annually to a civil engineering or environmental engineering senior in recognition of outstanding academic achievement. Selection is made by the faculty of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

  • Samantha Renee Wind

Eric I. Pas Award

Established in 1998 in memory of Dr. Pas, former director of undergraduate studies in Civil & Environmental Engineering, and presented to the graduating civil or environmental engineering senior judged by the faculty to have conducted the most outstanding independent study project.

  • Caroline Lenehan Heitmann
  • Renata Rae Starostka

Electrical & Computer Engineering

David Randall Fuller Prize for Achievement in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Presented annually to the graduating senior who has shown the most improvement in academic performance over the first three years.

  • Kabe Gregg Webster

George Sherrerd III Memorial Award in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Awarded annually to the senior in electrical and computer engineering who, in the opinion of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty, who has attained the highest level of scholastic achievement in all subjects and has simultaneously has rendered significant service to the Pratt School of Engineering and the university at large. Established in 1958 by the parents of Class of 1955 graduate George Sherrerd III, to recognize outstanding undergraduate scholarship.

  • Patrick Liu

Marie Foote Reel Undergraduate Research Award

Awarded each year to the most outstanding undergraduate research project and presentation as judged by the faculty in Duke Electrical & Computer Engineering as part of the Graduation with Departmental Distinction presentation session. Established in 2021 in honor of electrical engineer Marie Foote Reel ’46, one of the first women to graduate from Duke’s College of Engineering.

  • Natalia Androsz

Charles Rowe Vail Memorial Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award

Established in 1997 by former students and colleagues of Charles Vail, a graduate of the class of 1937, a professor from 1939-1967, and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 1956-1964, recognizes the most outstanding undergraduate teaching assistant in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.

  • Anshuman Dwibhashi
  • Patrick Liu
  • Evelyn Anastasia Putri

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Pi Tau Sigma Scholarship Award

Established in memory of T.C. Heyward, Sr., and presented annually by Pi Tau Sigma to an outstanding senior in Mechanical Engineering at Duke. Selection by a committee of the engineering faculty is based on academic excellence, engineering ability, and leadership.

  • Nicole Danielle Patterson
  • Diego Andre Salgado
  • Matthew Thomas Urke

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science Faculty Award

Presented annually in recognition of academic excellence to the graduating Mechanical Engineering seniors who have attained the highest level of scholastic achievement, as determined by the faculty.

  • Trevor Drake Fowler
  • Audrey Noel McManemin
  • Elizabeth Fairley Thoren

Raymond C. Gaugler Award in Materials Science & Engineering

  • Eric T. Chang

Graduated with Departmental Distinction

Biomedical Engineering

* The Howard G. Clark Award

  • Rivka Becky Arbiv
  • Emily Cloud Barre
  • Erin Elizabeth Brown
  • Stephanie Ann Crater
  • Craig James Cronin
  • Christopher John Davis*
  • Wendy Dong*
  • William Frederick Herbst*
  • Geovanni L. Janer Carattini*
  • Ruopu Jiao*
  • Matthew Harrison Kleiser
  • Allison Li*
  • Austin Wen Feng Li
  • Megan Lynn Libke
  • Rohin Maganti*
  • Rees Patrick Ridout
  • Natalie Shea Wilkinson

Civil & Environmental Engineering

  • Caroline Lenehan Heitmann
  • Alyvia Grace Schaad
  • Renata Rae Starostka

Electrical & Computer Engineering

  • Abebe Misganaw Amare
  • Natalia Androsz
  • Nathaniel Yoon Choe
  • Dhruv A. Dadhania
  • Anshuman Dwibhashi
  • Emery Elizabeth Geyer
  • Patrick Liu
  • David Arthur Miron
  • Alex Qiao
  • Max Aaron Smith
  • Kunal Upadya
  • John Stephen Wood Jr.

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

  • Eric T Chang
  • Ryan Luke Gex
  • Matthew Alec Jaynes
  • Pengcheng Liang
  • Nicole Danielle Patterson
  • Yukai Qian
  • Diego Andre Salgado
  • William Avery Smith
  • Robert David Madison Smoot
  • Matthew Thomas Urke

Undergraduate Fellowships and Honors

Pratt Research Fellows

  • Emily Cloud Barre
  • Erin Elizabeth Brown
  • Eric T. Chang
  • Nathaniel Yoon Choe
  • Wendy Dong
  • Taylor Skye Huie
  • Geovanni L. Janer Carattini
  • Ruopu Jiao
  • Matthew Harrison Klesier
  • Pengchen Liang
  • Benjamin Joseph Rosen
  • Corey Alan Simmerer

Katsouleas NAE Grand Challenge Scholars

  • Alex Kim Choi
  • Akylah Reiyani Cox
  • Caroline Lenehan Heitmann
  • Alyvia Grace Schaad

BME Design Fellows

  • Robert James Baldoni, Jr.
  • Jacqueline Marie Contento
  • Lia Victoria Cueto
  • Mia Isabelle de Leon
  • Diego Alberto Elmufdi
  • Parker Catharine Faircloth-Henise
  • Rishika Vinay Gundi
  • Lillian Anna Hiser
  • Bradley A. Howard
  • Taylor Skye Huie
  • Abinaya Lakshmanan
  • Megan Lynn Libke
  • Polin Liu
  • Neil Atwater Marks
  • Kieryn Elizabeth Ota
  • Vincent Ivan Peng
  • Evelyn Anastasia Putri
  • Nami C. Reddy
  • Nicholas T. Schiciano
  • Clayton Mitchell Shafer
  • Aidan Michael Therien
  • Natalie Shea Wilkinson

Tau Beta Pi

Tau Beta Pi is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity.

  • Abebe Misganaw Amare
  • Ayooluwa Eniola Balogun
  • Itamar Menashe Barak
  • Emily Cloud Barre
  • Erin Elizabeth Brown
  • Nathaniel Yoon Choe
  • Alex Kim Choi
  • Stephanie Ann Crater
  • Craig James Cronin
  • Emery Elizabeth Geyer
  • Ian James Hanus
  • Yoav Kargon
  • Timothy Daniel Kollar
  • Austin Wen Feng Li
  • Pengcheng Liang
  • Polin Liu
  • Rohin Maganti
  • Neil Atwater Marks
  • David Arthur Miron
  • Natalie Elizabeth Novitsky
  • Evelyn Anastasia Putri
  • Rees Patrick Ridout
  • Diego Andre Salgado
  • Christopher Jimin Shin
  • Corey Alan Simmerer
  • Hongxuan Wang
  • Natalie Shea Wilkinson
  • Samantha Renee Wind