UMD Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering Celebrates their Graduates at the Universities at Shady Grove (sponsored)

As the academic year came to an end, the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering (CPSE) program at the Universities of Shady Grove (USG) hosted a graduation dinner celebration for their senior class of 2023. The celebration was on the evening of Tuesday, May 23rd. With there only being two seniors in the graduating class of the CPSE program at USG, it was a small but joyous celebration. Senior, Kaiyue Zhou, was in attendance as well as family, guests, academic partners, the CPSE junior class, and the CPSE faculty.

As dinner was served, there was ample and meaningful discussion happening, especially between the senior class, junior class, and the faculty. Much of this discussion included how students found out about their major, the CPSE community summer program, and current student coursework/expectations. Most of the students in the program remarked how they found out about this program during their time at Montgomery College (whether it was through an advisor, another classmate, or a representative of the CPSE program). One of the students from the junior class said he attended the CPSE summer program in 2022, before he was a student of the CPSE program. Now this student and the other students in the junior class are volunteering to help with this year’s summer program as rising seniors.

Throughout the event, graduating senior Kaiyue Zhou talked about her time in the program. Her experience was unique because her class only had two students (one of which being herself). She discussed how throughout her time at USG, she received the benefit of individualized learning while working collaboratively with her classmate and their professor in the classroom. If she ever needed help or had any questions, she knew she could ask her professors and even commended their flexibility and communication. With this in mind, she did mention that the skills and strong fundamentals she learned in the program gave her the tools and education needed to typically figure out engineering problem’s on her own. Even though Zhou’s class was a class of two, she was grateful for it. CPSE taught her different transferable skills like problem-solving, strong work ethic, and independence.

All said, the junior class has both a similar and slightly different experience than Zhou’s senior class. While not a huge increase from the senior class cohort size, there are five students in the junior cohort (opposed to two seniors). The students of the junior class discussed how their experience in the program involved all five students taking classes at the same time, all together. Meaning, they have the same class schedule and if one of them has a question or needs help, they often can rely upon each other for support. The perk of the class only having five students, is they were able to build a small community and make life-long friends. Throughout the dinner, these students recommended the CPSE program and its structure to guests or really anyone at Montgomery College interested in a STEM/engineering B.S.

This program is a great option for Montgomery College graduates looking to transfer but if you or someone you know is interested, whether they’re looking for a job in industry or to further their education, the CPSE program provides the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed.

Interested in learning more? Visit: https://shadygrove.ece.umd.edu/ and find them on social media @umdcpse