On Wednesday, May 1, two representatives from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) met with the Research in Science club to discuss careers in engineering and acknowledge the excellent work being done by Delbarton students.

Mrs. Chitra Venkatraman P '01 and Mr. Dave Kerr, engineers from Lucent/Nokia labs, spoke about IEEE's involvement with science fairs and the pre-university support available on their website. They each gave a brief overview of their engineering careers. Kerr discussed his work on robotic hands with advanced sensitivity to touch and texture, while Venkatraman shared her contributions to the transition from landlines to cell phones. The students enjoyed her stories and real-world photos of wildlife and nature interacting with cellular infrastructure equipment. Based on the lively discussion and laughter, it was clear that everyone present enjoyed hearing about what it's like to work as an engineer and all the opportunities it brings to make a reality of the future we can only imagine now. As the Research in Science club motto reminds us: "IN THEREOMATE ID OPERATUR."

Venkatraman and Kerr presented Michael Xu '26 with the IEEE Young Engineer Award before leaving. IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization that is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Michael was awarded for his work in designing and building an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle capable of autonomous perpetual solar-powered flight. The UAV was built to facilitate mobile communication and long-distance surveillance.

Bravo, Michael!