Marianne Meins has welcome news for Capitol Technology University’s Class of 2018: the world wants your skills.
“Outside of professional sports, perhaps no graduate in the Digital Age is more aggressively recruited, highly-sought-after or shamelessly courted than someone educated with a technology or engineering-related degree,” Meins said as she delivered the commencement speech Saturday (May 12) at Capitol’s campus in Laurel, MD.
Meins, vice president for critical infrastructure strategy at Parsons, had the numbers to back up her assessment. Estimates suggest 3.5 million positions will be open in cybersecurity by 2021, and skilled professionals are sought in other tech fields as well, she noted. The driving force: the globe’s quenchless demand for digital devices, networks, and services.
Four billion people use the internet. Half that number – two billion – use mobile phones. There are also two billion users of social networks. And the drive to apply technological solutions to a host of needs, whether personal or societal, continues unabated.
“Across disciplines and sectors, the demand for innovation continues to grow exponentially,” Meins told graduating students. “The advancement of smart cities, intelligent transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and a new generation of space travel, needs you to fulfill the aspirations of a world in love with technology – and whose people rely on it more each day to make life safe, convenient and connected.”
Meins’s address capped a morning of celebration as Capitol’s newest graduates marked academic paths completed, hard work successfully accomplished, and degrees obtained. The Class of 2018 included more than 180 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree students, representing a broad range of business, computer science, engineering, and information technology fields.
The event was led by Dr. Bradford L. Sims, president of Capitol Technology University. Dr. Sims took office as the university’s eighth president in 2017, and was formally investedduring a ceremony on April 20, 2018.
The commencement ceremony began with a stately procession from the university’s main building, with this year’s Avrum Gudelsky scholar, Sophia LoSchiavo, carrying the university flag.
She was followed by the university marshal, Dr. Alexander “Sandy” Antunes, who led the assembled trustees, administration, faculty, and graduating students along the pear-shaded university entranceway towards the commencement pavilion. Capitol’s commencement was live-streamed, and a video recording can be viewed on the university’s YouTube channel.
“It was a beautiful day to celebrate achievement,” said Dr. Antunes. “Congratulations to the Class of 2018!”