The Great Class of 2023.
Princeton ECE celebrated its 37 graduating seniors in a Class Day ceremony on Monday, May 29, 2023, conferring honors and awards for outstanding academic achievement.
"Life is full of the unexpected," said James Sturm, chair and Stephen R. Forrest Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He said he was most proud of the graduates in those moments they had to build on their coursework to solve unanticipated problems. "You had to figure it out on your own and learn from each other."
Director of Undergraduate Studies David Wentzlaff, professor of electrical and computer engineering, echoed that sentiment. "There will be a number of challenges and sometimes failures," he said. "Reflect on your previous successes. Be resilient. Have the courage to make bold decisions."
“That's what we call leadership,” he added.
In their junior year, the Class of 2023 built autonomous vehicles for their final projects in Car Lab. Pictured here, Aneesha Manocha, second from right, applauds her peers while Diane Yang, second from left, records a video of the scene. Photo by Tori Repp/Fotobuddy
Two students shared the department's top honor, the Charles Ira Young Memorial Tablet & Medal: Thomas Dhome-Casanova and Aneesha Manocha. The medal honors their extraordinary research efforts.
For his thesis, Dhome-Casanova studied deep learning with his adviser Sharad Malik, the George Van Ness Lothrop Professor in Engineering. Specifically, he developed a compiler for an open-source deep learning hardware accelerator that required understanding the hardware, software, and the hardware-software interface. "The resulting compiler is very impressive," Malik said.
Manocha studied renewable energy with Jesse Jenkins, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and focused on ways to improve energy and energy-storage systems in India. "Her fierce dedication to excellence and research productivity rivals the contributions of any graduate student in my lab," Jenkins said.
Benjamin Finch and Jonathan Pollock won the Sigma Xi Book Award for Outstanding Research.
Artemis Veizi and Jack Schenkman won the G. David Forney, Jr. Prize, awarded for outstanding accomplishments in communication science, systems and signals.
Neil Hazra won the Peter Mark Prize, awarded for outstanding accomplishments in electronic materials and devices.
Jae Byeok Yoon won the Hisashi Kobayashi Prize, awarded for outstanding accomplishments in computing.
JaeByeok Yoon sets up his autonomous vehicle at Car Lab demo day, the capstone of the department's junior-year coursework.
Jacob Beyer won the Bradley Dickinson Award for System Design, awarded for outstanding accomplishments in the design and implementation of complex electronic systems.
Kasey Shashaty won the Optical Engineering Award of Excellence, awarded for outstanding accomplishments in optical engineering.
Darren Chiu and Hadley Clayton won the John Ogden Bigelow, Jr. Prize, awarded to those students who have shown the greatest improvement since entering Princeton.
Of the 37 graduates, seven earned the University's academic honors; eight more earned high honors; and four students earned highest honors.
Nineteen of the graduates were inducted into one or more honor society: Sigma Xi, for distinguished scientific research; Tau Beta Pi, recognizing outstanding engineering achievements; and Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's preeminent liberal arts honor society.
The students also earned certificates across many disciplines, including Statistics and Machine Learning, Robotics and Intelligent Systems, and Neuroscience, among others.
The School of Engineering and Applied Science held a separate ceremony to recognize the graduating seniors as part of the full BSE program. SEAS selected two ECE students for awards:
Jacob Beyer won a James Hayes-Edgar Palmer Prize in Engineering, for his excellent scholarship, a marked capacity for leadership, and promise of creative achievement in engineering.
Kasey Shashaty won a George J. Mueller Award, for combining high scholarly achievement in the study of engineering with quality performance in intercollegiate athletics.
ECE Great Class of 2023
Jovan Aigbekaen
Jacob Beyer
Highest Honors, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa
Bradley Dickinson Award for System Design, James Hayes-Edgar Palmer Prize in Engineering (SEAS)
Ariel Blumenberg
Honors
Kevin Boateng
Sigma Xi
Darren Chiu
John Ogden Bigelow Jr. Prize in EE
Hadley Clayton
John Ogden Bigelow Jr. Prize in EE
Thomas Dhome-Casanova
Highest Honors, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa
Charles Ira Young Memorial Tablet & Medal
Mason El-Habr
High Honors, Sigma Xi
Marlon Escobar
Benjamin Finch
High Honors, Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi Book Award for Outstanding Research
Samuel Gariy
Sophie Gerchikov
Honors, Sigma Xi
Akiva Goldberger
Honors, Sigma Xi
Katherine Graham
Caroline Hana
Neil Hazra
Highest Honors, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa
Peter Mark Prize
Alkin Kaz
High Honors, Tau Beta Pi
Danxian Liu
Honors, Sigma Xi
Aneesha Manocha
Highest Honors, Sigma Xi
Charles Ira Young Memorial Tablet & Medal
Frank Maranje
Reilly McClanahan
Brendan McManamon
Honors
McRea Abigail
Vikash Modi
High Honors, Sigma Xi
Jonathan Pollock
Honors, Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi Book Award for Outstanding Research
Thomas Pries
Isabella Racioppi
Arielle Rivera
Jack Schenkman
High Honors, Sigma Xi
G. David Forney Jr. Prize
Kasey Shashaty
High Honors, Sigma Xi
Optical Engineering Award of Excellence, George J. Mueller Award (SEAS)
Dylan Tran
Artemis Veizi
High Honors, Sigma Xi
G. David Forney Jr. Prize
Diane Yang
Honors, Sigma Xi
Katelyn Yang
Sophie Yangyi
High Honors, Sigma Xi
Jessica Yeh
Jae Yoon
Sigma Xi
Hisashi Kobayashi Prize
Car Lab demo day, May 2022.