ECE Homecoming 2025: Celebrating alumni, excellence and Wildcat pride
Sundararajan Sankaranarayanan (MS '01, PhD '06) accepting his Distinguished Alumni Award from ECE professor Bane Vasic and ECE Department Head and Thomas R. Brown Leadership Chair Michael Wu.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering marked Homecoming weekend on November 7–8, 2025, with two days of tradition, recognition and Wildcat pride. Alumni, faculty, students, and friends returned to campus to reconnect and celebrate the achievements of the ECE community.
College of Engineering honors ECE leaders at the 62nd Engineers Breakfast
Homecoming weekend began with the 62nd Annual Engineers Breakfast, where several ECE community members were recognized with College of Engineering awards:
- Advocacy Award
Sharon O'Neal — ECE professor of practice and former director of the software engineering program - Bear Down Award
W. Don McDonald (BS EE '65) — Senior Capstone instructor, College of Engineering - Alumnus of the Year
Susan Gray (BS EE '96) — President and CEO, Tucson Electric Power
ECE Homecoming highlights: Awards, lectures and alumni achievements
Throughout the weekend, ECE honored alumni accomplishments, showcased innovative student research, and welcomed industry leaders to present emerging insights in engineering and technology.
Distinguished Alumni Awards Recognize Excellence in Engineering Leadership
Two alumni were presented with Distinguished Alumni Awards for their impact in the field:
- Raymond J. Oglethorpe (BS EE '66)
President, Oglethorpe Investments; former president and CEO, AOL - Sundararajan Sankaranarayanan (MS '01, PhD '06)
Distinguished engineer of storage, Micron Technology
ECE Distinguished Lecture: Mark Pierpoint explores "From Rocks to Recommendations"
The 2025 ECE Distinguished Lecture was delivered by Mark Pierpoint, executive emeritus consultant at Keysight Technologies. His talk, "From Rocks to Recommendations," guided attendees through a compelling journey from fundamental physical principles to advanced data‑driven decision systems.
Graduate Student Poster Symposium showcases cutting‑edge research
ECE graduate students presented their latest research during the annual Graduate Student Poster Symposium, highlighting advances in AI, hardware security, experiential learning and next‑generation computing. Congratulations to this year's award recipients:
- Best Poster Award
Md. Muhtasim Alam Chowdhury
Faculty advisor: Soheil Salehi
Dyn-A-Map: Dynamic AI-Model Mapping for Robust and Accurate MRAM-based Analog Edge Computing - Best Poster Design Concept Award
Sujan Ghimire
Faculty advisor: Soheil Salehi
From Datasheets to Defense: Generative AI for Embedded Systems and Hardware Security - Best Demonstration Award
Veeramani Pugazhenthi and Harish Kumar Dharavath
Faculty advisor: Soheil Salehi
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Hardware Design and Security in the Age of AI - People's Choice Award
John Martin Encinas
Collaborators: Yu-Zheng Lin and Pratik Satam
Faculty advisor: Pratik Satam
PRISM: A Personalized, Rapid and Immersive Skill Mastery Framework for Personalizing Experiential Learning Through Generative AI - Industrial Advisory Board's Outstanding Poster Award
Rohan Bali
Collaborator: Michael Bullock
Faculty advisor: Boulat Bash
Experimental Covert Communication Using Software-Defined Radio
Homecoming Tailgate wraps up a weekend of Wildcat spirit
The celebration concluded at the College of Engineering Homecoming Tailgate on the U of A Mall, where alumni and friends gathered for food, games and camaraderie. A Wildcats football win made for a perfect finale.
See all the event photos.