MAE Spring 2025 Departmental Graduation Ceremony

We are so excited to celebrate our Spring 2025 graduates!  The MAE Spring 2025 Departmental Graduation Ceremony will be held at the William Neal Reynolds Coliseum at 2411 Dunn Ave, Raleigh, NC 27607 on May 1, 2025 at 8 a.m. Important information and instructions for the graduation ceremony will be posted here, check back for updates.

Click here to watch the ceremony live.

Pre-Ceremony Tasks

Undergraduates

• Complete the MAE Graduation Survey and RSVP no later than April 20
• Do you want to apply to be graduation speaker? Be sure to indicate that in your RSVP no later than April 11.
• Update your name and mailing address with the university
• Purchase regalia (cap and gown are required to attend any graduation ceremony)
• Pick up tickets on April 23 (must have submitted an RSVP by the deadline)

Graduating Students

• Arrive no later than 7:15 am to check-in: the ceremony will begin promptly at 8:00 am.
• Enter Reynolds Coliseum through the East entrance (the side facing the parking lot and Coliseum parking deck).
• Check in at the appropriate table (graduate or undergraduate) to pick up your name-call card before lining up.
• You must wear official NCSU graduate regalia (cap and gown) in order to participate in the ceremony.  These can be purchased from the NC State Bookstore.
• Keep any personal items with you during the ceremony: you may not end up in the same seat after you walk across the stage.
• Degrees will be recognized in the order listed: PhD Aerospace, PhD Mechanical, MS Aerospace, MS Mechanical, BS Aerospace, BS Mechanical.
• Graduates will not walk across the stage in alphabetical order.

Guests

• All guests above the age of 2 must have a ticket to enter Reynolds
• Doors will open to guests at 7:30 am: enter through the front (main) doors of Reynolds Coliseum
• ADA and accessible seating is available
• All seating is general admission
• There will be security and bag checks (including clear bags and gift bags) – it is recommended not to bring a bag unless absolutely necessary (e.g. diaper bags or medical supply bags)
• Strollers must be left in a designated area in the lobby
• Water will be available for sale inside Reynolds

Prohibited Items & Behavior For Reynolds for Graduations

All graduates, staff and guests entering Reynolds Coliseum will have their bags searched and will be going through the walk through Weapons Detection System 

The following items and activities are prohibited out of concern for the safety of our guests, employees and participants:  

• Alcoholic beverages  
• Animals*  
• Artificial noisemakers/Confetti/Streamers 
• Balloons
• Bicycles/footwear with wheels/hoverboards/skateboards  
• Coolers/ice bags  
• Drones/unmanned aerial vehicles  
• Food or drink of any kind, including containers such as bottles, cans, thermos, etc.* 
  • NC State does allow for 1 sealed bottle of water to be brought in or Empty Water Bottles to be filled at the water fountains along the concourse
• Glass Items (including, flower vases, bottled drinks, etc)
• Illegal substances  
• Laser pointers 
• Loitering & soliciting  
• Poles/sticks for flags or signs and signs/banners/flags larger than 3’x2’  
• Sitting/standing in the aisles  
• Smoking (except at the designated areas outside the gates)  
• Strollers (large, non-collapsible stroller, collapsible strollers are permitted but cannot be stored in the seating area due to egress)  
• Throwing objects in the stands or onto the graduation floor 
• Unauthorized vending & distribution of goods, services and literature  
• Weapons 
• Wrapped Presents (any items in a gift bag will need to be searched)

*Exceptions will be made for those with medical requirements or special needs; fans should carry any necessary documentation, credentials or identification. Diaper bags are permitted only if accompanied by an infant

Graduate Pictures

Professional photographers will be present to take a photo of each student when they are on the stage to receive their scroll.  A portrait photo will also be taken of each student after they step down from the stage. The photography company will reach out to graduates via email and/or mail in the weeks after the ceremony with information about how to purchase pictures.

Parking

• Parking is available for all students and guests in the Coliseum Parking Deck. Parking is free and no permit is required during commencement.
• Handicap parking is located in the first Jeter Bay (parking lots beside Reynolds Coliseum). To qualify for handicap parking, you must display a valid state handicap parking permit. Handicap parking is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Diplomas

During the MAE graduation ceremony, students will receive a presentation scroll.  The University will mail the diploma and diploma cover to each student’s home address shortly after graduation. Graduates, please make sure your diploma mailing address is up-to-date in the MyPack Portal. Information about diploma mailing timelines can be found here.

University Commencement

For information about the university graduation ceremony, regalia purchasing, diploma information and more, please visit the University Commencement Website. No tickets are required to attend the university graduation ceremony.

Ceremony Speakers

Student Speaker – Walt Wright

Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Walt’s love for engineering made itself known at an early age; Walt was fascinated with physical phenomena around him. Through grade school, Walt displayed his engineering abilities in and out of the classroom, excelling in STEM studies and taking a scientific approach to his athletic endeavors. During Walt’s junior year of high school, he moved to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, where he was able to combine his love for engineering and oceansports in the form of kitesurfing. Walt’s talents were quickly recognized by many kitesurfing brands, which led to the signing of a sponsorship, R&D, and sales contracts with Carbinha Kiteboarding, Dakine Wind, and Greenhat Kiteboarding. Since partnering with these companies, Walt has been instrumental in designing products and exposing the brands to the East Coast market. Namely, Walt’s feedback and design considerations were used to produce Cabrinha’s “H-Series” hydrofoil line, a revolutionary foil that boasted incredible glide and efficiency while maintaining agility; a benchmark for the market upon its release. Walt has also placed on the podium in multiple national-level kitesurfing competitions, demonstrating the successful marriage of engineering prowess and athletic ability. Upon arrival at NC State in the Fall of 2021, Walt fell in love with both his studies and the social activities that the university has to offer. Walt maintained a successful balance of academic achievement and extracurricular growth; graduating with magna cum laude honors while advancing his kitesurfing career. During the summer of 2023, Walt worked as an intern with Hoffman & Hoffman HVAC, designing systems and obtaining further knowledge on applied thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and heat transfer. The following summer Walt worked the same position, with much of his time dedicated to case studies on the effectiveness of insulation in competitor’s packaged rooftop units. Walt will work as a Sales Engineer for Hoffman & Hoffman in Wilmington, North Carolina following graduation. Walt would like to thank his family, friends, classmates, and professors for enabling him to have a successful academic career at NC State. 

Commencement Speaker – Anthony Santago

Dr. Anthony Santago is the Chief Engineer for Transportation Safety at The MITRE Corporation, which operates six Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. In this role, Dr. Santago is responsible for ensuring technical quality, mentoring staff, and leading the ongoing evolution of MITRE’s technical and experimentation capabilities and exploration in support of safe and secure transportation of people across our nation and around the world. Dr. Santago graduated from NC State with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Minor in Computer Programming in the fall of 2007. He completed his Masters and Doctorate in Biomedical Engineering at the Virginia Tech – Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences where his research quantified the mechanical properties of soft internal organs and explored how age related changes impact shoulder structure and motion. Since joining MITRE in the summer of 2015, he has provided technical and programmatic expertise to sponsors across the federal Government. His work spanned from foundational research and development programs to acquisition and deployment of technology solutions including establishing novel federal acquisition processes. He has served as a subject matter expert in computational human body modeling, most recently as a member of a NATO working group. His love of sports analytics, cultivated during graduate school, lead him to establish the Squad Performance Optimization using Real-Time Sensing (SPORTS) program which, in partnership with the Departments of Defense and Justice, aims to foster safe and effective training, optimize performance, and ultimately help tactical teams achieve success in real-world operations. Outside of MITRE, Dr. Santago enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters (ages 5 and 3) and, when time permits, watching NC State sports and training for triathlons.