Graduation
Here is Dave's final thesis, all 187 pages of color charts, photos, equations, and LOTS of writing. Imagine 2 reams of paper: that's the height of just the rough drafts. And that's in a day of computers, where many revisions were done electronically!
Titled "Roughness Impact on Turbine Vane Suction Side Film Cooling Effectiveness", this thesis greatly prepared Dave for the job he has today.
Dave's hood was black with burnt orange and white for UT colors, with an orange accent as the color of the engineering school. We bypassed the graduate hooding ceremony by just throwing it on him.
Graduation regalia dates back to the Middle Ages when scholars wore them to keep warm in drafty buildings. The hat was an emblem of intellectual independence; hoods were worn by monks to keep warm and carry items. Dave just wore the hood, but did stow things in those sleeves.
Dave, Jay, and Shawn were good buddies and worked in the same wind tunnel. They overcame computer crashes, poor equipment, changing demands, schedule conflicts, boring data crunching, classes, and red tape to write their 2 theses and 1 dissertation (Shawn). Way to go, guys!
Convocation is the ceremony in which students receive diplomas by name. The parents of the undergraduates screamed like football fans with horns and signs, but families of the graduate engineers were more reserved. Dave was the first master's student across the stage. Dave, Jay, Shawn, and Elon arranged themselves to be next to each other in line.
What with all this, and the fireworks and jovial speakers, it was so enjoyable, we encourage all our Austin friends to attend someday!
Before it all started, Dave liked the traditional maces representing each discipline. Dave stands here with a professor and the master's mace. The mace was once a war club, now a symbol of authority.
The US Secretary of Commerce, alumnus Donald Evans, was the guest speaker. Although he waxed patriotic, (President G. W. Bush's daughter was graduating, and was probably watching,) Secretary Evans included lots of jokes, too. He said that some would graduate with honors, and some with a few D's; to those with D's: there's a secretary of commerce job waiting for them!
Someone else noted that some were graduating magna cum laud-with honors; and others graduated magna cum dente: by the skin of their teeth. By the way, there were highlights of distinguished students and musical numbers, and plenty of encouragement to be a beacon to the world and in the pursuit of excellence, too.
Pictured is President Faulkner smiling, (didn't Dave have a good seat?) Also note the orange banners, the school seal, colored college banners below, the maces in the middle, and the sparkling "2004" hanging from a cap.
The happiest part was "Presentation of Degree Candidates" at the end. Each college stood in turn, wearing their college colors, with the UT tower lighting up to match each of the 14 colors. The students rose before their dean began speaking, cheered the entire speech, were shown on the jumbotron all smiles, and ended with a big hurrah.
The nursing dean declared her students the most worthy, capable, caring, smart, employable nurses in the nation. She then promoted the nursing graduate program, and daringly invited law students to learn a more worthy vocation. Ha! It was so great, we bought the DVD.
The eyes of Texas are upon you, All the live long day.
The eyes of Texas are upon, You cannot get away.
Do not think you can escape them,
At night or early in the morn'.
The eyes of Texas are upon you, Till Gabriel blows his horn!
We went home, had banana splits, and hit the hay happy. Congratulations, Dave.
Left to right is Jay, Dave, Jay's girlfriend Colleen, Tricia, and Elon. Beth and Shawn and little Tadpole couldn't make it. Neither could Dan, Brian, or Jason, other labmates.
Dave and Liz Robertson
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