As Fall 2024 graduates of the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) prepare to cross the stage this weekend, many are reflecting on the transformative journey that led them to this milestone.
From countless hours of dedicated study sessions to significant contributions in groundbreaking research and practical experience gained through internships, these students have proven their ability and then some.
Below is a showcase of a few graduating master's degree students, reflecting on their journey's and and looking to the bright futures ahead of them. Join ECE in congratulating all our remarkable students on their achievements and wishing them the best in their future endeavors.
Fall 2024 Degrees Awarded
Graduate Reflections
Thomas Contis | M.S. ECE 2024
How has ECE prepared you for your next chapter?
I believe that the value in ECE's curriculum lies not only in its stellar professors and dedicated TAs, but also the practical experiences afforded by course projects and lab courses. You gain knowledge of real-world lab equipment and build up a portfolio of interesting projects, which for me included a wire-cutting machine, a hand-built op-amp, and a self-balancing inverted pendulum, among others.
Beyond the classroom, I’ve also had the privilege of being a research assistant, a GTA, a lab supplies coordinator, and an intern at a startup.
What are your plans after graduation?
I am in the process of finding a job in firmware engineering or signal processing. I hope to contribute to innovative, human-centered technologies be they wearable health monitors, improved tools, or environmental sensors.
What is your favorite memory while at ECE?
Tough question! I will always cherish the friendships I forged with other officers in Eta Kappa Nu. I especially enjoyed our lively packaging events where officers, members, and initiates came together to bond while assembling large quantities of kits for ECE lab courses.
Advice to Future Graduates
Keep your chin up and know your worth. Never prematurely disqualify yourself from opportunities just because you don’t feel like you’re enough! You have access to many resources and an entire network of peers and alumni, that, when combined with the resilience and capacity for learning you develop as a GT student, can put your ambitions within reach if you put forth the effort.
Thomas Contis
Devangna Dubey | M.S. 2024 ECE
How has GT-ECE prepared you for your next chapter?
My GT-ECE journey has been profoundly transformative. While my coursework has prepared me well enough to tackle engineering challenges, my biggest takeaways from my program are not academic lessons, but rather lessons of resilience, patience and grit.
What are your plans after Graduation?
Diving into a Ph.D.! I’ll be coming back to school to start my Ph.D. in Spring. I feel excited, nervous and super inspired – all at once.
What is your favorite memory while at GT-ECE?
Spending a week at a conference in Honolulu, Hawaii!
Advice to Future Graduates
No man is an island – Graduate school in ECE is supposed to be hard, but you are not alone. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. You’ll be surprised to see how much the student community has to offer here, if you just ask!
Devangna Dubey
Greyson Lovett | M.S. ECE 2024
How has ECE prepared me for the next chapter?
I participated in the Joint BS/MS program to get both my bachelor's degree in electrical engineering (Fall 2023) and my master's degree in 4.5 years. While at Tech, I've participated in undergraduate research with Professor William Hunt, and have been on various engineering clubs. ECE has prepared me by offering a tough degree program that challenged me to think in new ways about various engineering problems. Working with talented engineers, I have been able to tackle various ECE-related engineering projects which challenged my academic understanding. Along with this, the various extracurricular and research related opportunities helped to bring the classroom to the real world, so that I could really comprehend the theoretical knowledge obtained in a practical sense.
What are your plans after graduation?
I will be working at the Robins Air Force Base as an electrical engineer through the SMART Scholarship program.
What is your favorite memory while at ECE?
My favorite memory was my senior year of my undergraduate degree, while I was in the Senior Design course. Getting to accomplish a practical project with a group of talented peers was extremely cool, and winning the competition was an amazing experience. I enjoyed getting to develop a semester-long project, and to truly flesh out all of my ideas about how the project should be completed.
Advice to Future Graduates
My top advice is to explore extracurricular opportunities, as they help to solidify your understanding of ECE. Getting involved in research and engineering clubs is one of the biggest highlights of my academic career. Also, try to establish a connection with the professors in your targeted interest, as they tend to really appreciate passionate students.
Greyson Lovett
Fatima Zahrae Tijent | Ph.D. ECE 2024
Bio: Fatima Zahrae Tijent is a 2024 PhD graduate in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She joined Georgia Tech in Fall 2021 as part of a co-supervised PhD program with the International University of Rabat. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Material Physics (2017) and a Master of Research in Advanced Material Physics (2019), both from the Faculty of Science in Fez. Her research interests are in wide band gap semiconductors, exploring their applications in microelectronic and optoelectronic systems, as well as TCAD simulations.
How has GT-ECE prepared you for your next chapter?
GT-ECE provided me with world-class training in semiconductor technologies and hands-on research experience. It has equipped me with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle real- world challenges in my field.
What are your plans after graduation?
I plan to pursue a postdoctoral position focusing on TCAD simulation of wide band gap semiconductor devices.
What is your favorite memory while at GT-ECE?
My favorite memories are collaborating with peers in the lab, celebrating breakthroughs, and learning from each other’s experiences.
Advice to Future Graduates
Take full advantage of the resources and opportunities at GT-ECE. Stay curious and don’t hesitate to collaborate—it’s the best way to grow and innovate.
Fatime Zahrae Tijent
Eula Tolentino | M.S. ECE - Distance Learning
How has ECE prepared you for your next chapter?
Among the many technical lessons, ECE taught me two invaluable skills: how to juggle the chaos of a demanding career with rigorous coursework and how to do it all sleep deprived while still looking surprisingly functional. It proved to me that all you need is a little resilience, adaptability, and most definitely caffeine, to turn the toughest challenges into opportunities for growth.
What are your plans after Graduation?
I plan on continuing my current career as a senior engineer and applying the knowledge and skills I’ve gained to hopefully make an even greater impact. As a hobby, I might also explore my newfound love for malware, purely for academic purposes, of course.
What is your favorite memory while at ECE?
Finding out I had an unexpected fascination with malware after taking Professor Brendan Saltaformaggio's Advanced Malware Analysis course. Also, forging lifelong bonds with both in-person and remote peers. Panicking, then re-remembering how to work PDEs (partial differential equations) more than a decade after I had last taken any kind of derivative. Shout out to Professor Tony Yezzi's Advanced Computer Vision & Image Processing course.
Advice to Future Graduates
When you think there's not enough time in the day, you're wrong, there is. It's just hidden between panic attacks, coffee refills, and Googling "how much sleep do humans really need?". But with the right support (peers, partner, family, possibly a therapist), you can do more than you think and come out stronger, wiser, and maybe just an iota more twitchy.
Eula Tolentino
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