The Department of Computer Science kicked off graduation festivities with a breakfast reception honoring the Class of 2019 on Thursday, May 23, just a few hours shy of the university-wide commencement at Royal Farms Arena. This year, the department conferred 108 degrees to its largest graduating class to date.
While some students selected computer science as their major during their first year of undergraduate studies, Jeesoo Kim had other plans before she was introduced to systems and software design.
“I actually came to Hopkins originally as a biomedical engineering major, with plans to go to graduate school for medical devices,” says Kim, who obtained her BS in computer science this spring. “I remember that I took my very first programming class with Sara Miner More, an associate teaching professor of computer science, because of our BME requirements. I felt like I’d unsuspectingly wandered into a world that stirred lifelong excitement. The next semester, I switched to CS.”
This summer, Kim is moving to Austin, Texas to work at IBM Watson as a cognitive developer.
According to the department’s exit survey, more than 80 percent of 2019 graduates are relocating, and more than 70 percent of them will work in industry.
Ryan Demo
Ryan Demo earned his BS in electrical engineering with a second major in computer science in 2018. This spring, Demo earned his MSE in computer science and is now headed to the Bay Area.
“I’ll be joining the iOS team at Lyft in San Francisco. I interned there last summer on the Autonomous Open Platform team, which works on the backend and mobile infrastructure for managing and deploying self-driving car fleets,” says Demo.
Demo participated in Design Day, showcasing his latest research, Corrie Health—a mobile app that helps heart attack patients manage their recovery after discharge.
“It was incredibly rewarding. The multidisciplinary team of Hopkins doctors, engineers, medical students, and volunteers that brought the app from development to deployment was a collaboration only possible at a place like JHU,” says Demo.
Tim Kutcher
But being a Hopkins engineer isn’t all work and no play. For example, Tim Kutcher, who earned his BS in computer science this spring, balanced the books with baseball as an outfielder for the Hopkins Blue Jays.
“Hopkins gave me the flexibility and resources to succeed both as a student and as an athlete,” Kutcher says. “Baseball and computer science are two things that I am incredibly passionate about, so I never felt overly stressed having to manage both at the same time. Overall, I have loved my experience both in the classroom and in athletics.”
After graduation, Kutcher plans to work as a software engineer for Digital Innovation, Inc., a company created by his father, John Kutcher, Engr ’86, ’92 (PhD) and fellow CS alums Guy Thompson, Engr ’95 and Brandon Goldfedder, Engr ’89, ’89 (MSE).
The department extends its heartfelt congratulations to the Class of 2019.