Nishkaam Mehta commencement speech: 'A rare breed of visionary'

'A rare breed of visionary'




Nishkaam Mehta's commencement speech to the class of 2007, University of California, Irvine at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.




----Speech transcript-----

Chancellor Drake,
Dean Alexopoulos,
Distinguished Faculty,
Family,
Friends,
And Class of 2007

Some people see things as they are and say, "Why?"
I dream of things that never were and say, "Why not?"

George Bernard Shaw might as well have been an engineer.

Throughout history people have asked, "Why?"
and engineers have answered, "Why not?"

Engineers are a rare breed of visionary.
We understand solutions as clearly as the problems.
We know the nuts and bolts, because we designed those nuts and bolts.

We designed and simulated them.
We then fabricated those nuts-and-bolts and built the Hoover dam.
And the Pacemaker.
And the Pentium chip.
And the Double-epitaxy heterojunction bipolar transistor.

Congratulations!
We are that rare breed of visionary.
We are Engineers.
And today, we receive more than a diploma.
We receive a license to do something weve always done.
We receive a license to challenge,
. . . a license to ask Why Not?

The world is full of challenges.
The challenges we face are vastly different than the challenges our parents and our grandparents faced.

We were born into a world where our skyscrapers, factories, and cars were conceived before we had even an inkling of how the planet worked.

Today, we have a better idea of how our planet works, but we still use the same cars.
The same farms.
The same factories.
If humanity is to thrive, we will have to lead it into an era of sustainable development.
We will have to lead the world into an era where our industrial mechanisms preserve the planet, rather than deplete it.
We will have to challenge todays ideas and come up with tomorrows solutions.

We will have to ask Why Not?

Why Not . . . approach waste as an engineering problem?
Why not . . . approach pollution as a design flaw?
Why not . . . approach the energy crisis as an opportunity to develop newer and cleaner technologies?

Some of us will ask these questions in graduate school,
. . . some in research
. . . and some in industry.

And when we do ask these questions, rest assured that we have behind us, one of the best schools in the nation, lasting friendships and rigorous training.

UCI has been a wonderful campus.
And we are fortunate to attend a such a great school.

A few years ago, we made a promise to ourselves.
Our parents, high-school counselors, and our peers asked, Why Engineering?
We imagined the possibilities and answered, Why Not Engineering?

Id like to thank our outstanding faculty, Parents, staff . . . and Red Bull!

Congratulations to the Class of 2007!

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Education