UCLA Samueli Sends Off Class of 2026 with a Charge: Build Boldly, but Be Engineers Worth Trusting
“Be engineers whose word can be trusted. Be engineers who do the right thing when no one is watching. Be engineers who measure success not only by what you create, but by the standards you refuse to lower.”
That was the charge Joanne Maguire — who received a UCLA engineering master’s degree in 1978 and rose to executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company before retiring in 2013 — delivered to the newest bachelor of science degree recipients of the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the school’s 62nd commencement, following its establishment in 1945 and first commencement in 1964.
It was a theme that echoed across two UCLA Samueli commencement ceremonies in Pauley Pavilion over the weekend.
Nearly 1,900 engineering and computer science students — 1,111 bachelor’s degree candidates on June 13 and 777 master’s and doctoral candidates on June 14 — walked across the stage to the applause of more than 11,000 family members and guests. The ceremonies featured American Sign Language interpreters and were livestreamed on the school’s YouTube channel.
Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean, set the tone in her welcome address at both ceremonies, encouraging graduates to apply their skills to address society’s biggest challenges and improve lives.
“One of our core values is being innovative, determined problem solvers, with compassion for others,” Park said. “I am confident you have what it takes to be true leaders in this exciting future and you will all make our world a better place.”
At Saturday’s undergraduate ceremony, student speaker Ariv Gupta, who is on track to receive his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering this fall, turned away from career advice entirely and focused instead on what his college experience is like balancing the mind, body and world.
“Every single day we wake up and try to juggle all three with only two hands,” he said while juggling three balls to the laughter of his fellow Bruin engineers.
“There is no right way to live, the only way is yours,” he continued. “Let’s stop trying to divine our trajectory or perfectly predict our orbit. There is no justifying our place on Earth because we are already here.”
Maguire, a longtime member of the UCLA Samueli Dean’s Executive Board, offered one of the weekend’s most pointed messages on professional integrity: “Design boldly but build intentionally. Innovate freely but responsibly. Lead confidently but remain accountable.”
Click on image to view a gallery of Class of 2026 students celebrating their graduation
Sunday’s graduate ceremony carried that thread forward. Student speaker Anmol Gupta, who received her master’s degree in computer science and managed to keep her role as commencement speaker a secret from her family, told her fellow graduates that they leave UCLA with more than knowledge — and that what they do with it is ultimately a choice.
“Let us go forward to build meaningful things. Let us go forward ready to solve hard problems,” Gupta said. “And most importantly, let us go forward ready to be thoughtful, grounded and kind in the way we use what we have learned.”
Durga Malladi, executive vice president and general manager for Technology Planning, Edge Solutions and Data Center at Qualcomm Technologies, served as the distinguished speaker for the graduate commencement. One night in the fall of 1993, shortly after arriving in Westwood from India, Malladi said he was captivated by the early web browser Mosaic glowing on a lab workstation in Boelter Hall, where the internet’s first node was established in 1969. “I was hooked,” he said.
That curiosity, he told the graduates, is worth protecting long after the responsibilities of career and life pile up. Malladi received his master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from UCLA. He also serves on the UCLA Samueli Dean’s Corporate Advisory Board and has been a longtime supporter of the school.
“One never finds time for anything unless one you make time for it,” Malladi said, urging graduates to stay engaged with the professional community and pay it forward through service and mentorship. “We all learn from mentors we admire. I most certainly learnt quite a lot from mentors over the years. But at some point, you need to become one.”
The ceremonies carried their share of Bruin flourishes, with students performing the national anthem at both. A quintet of graduating engineers — Vishaka Bhat, Jacqueline Dobrei, Sanjana Kale, Lavinia Lei and Uma Upasani, all members of Cadenza A Cappella — performed at the undergraduate ceremony, while Daniel Oviedo, who was graduating with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering, opened the graduate ceremony with a solo saxophone rendition.
UCLA Samueli Faculty Executive Committee Vice Chair Irene Chen presided over both ceremonies as faculty marshal. She is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, with a joint appointment in bioengineering.
Recordings of both ceremonies and a digital copy of the program are available on the UCLA Samueli commencement website.
Obligation of an Engineer:
“I am an Engineer. In my profession I take deep pride. To it I owe solemn obligations. As an Engineer, I pledge to practice integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect; and to uphold devotion to the standards and the dignity of my profession, conscious always that my skill carries with it the obligation to serve humanity by making the best use of the Earth’s precious wealth. As an Engineer, I shall participate in none but honest enterprises. When needed, my skill and knowledge shall be given without reservation for the public good. In the performance of duty and with deep fidelity to my profession, I shall give my utmost.”
At the 2026 Senior Celebration held June 5, graduating UCLA Samueli engineers were officially inducted into the Order of the Engineer. The students recited the time-honored oath, pledging to practice engineering with integrity and honesty in service to the public good. As part of the ceremony, each student received a stainless steel ring, worn on the pinky finger of the dominant hand. The ring serves as a constant reminder of an engineer’s ethical responsibilities and is intentionally placed to be felt whenever the wearer is engaged in engineering work.
Established in 1970, the Order of the Engineer in the U.S. aims to foster a spirit of pride and responsibility in the engineering profession. The ring ceremony was adapted from the Canadian tradition inaugurated in 1925, the “Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer,” in which graduates are presented with wrought iron rings after reciting a similar oath written by Rudyard Kipling for the Engineering Institute of Canada.
Photo credit: GradImages and UCLA Samueli