ISF Online Graduation 2020

On June 13, 2020, our first ever live streamed graduation ceremony took place.

The 2020 graduating class is the largest in ISF’s history so far, with 91 extremely talented young ladies and gentlemen, representing 23 nationalities.

Being allowed to welcome only a maximum of 100 event participants on campus due to the COVID-19 limitations, we took the decision to organize an actual graduation ceremony for the students, and to live stream the whole ceremony for families and friends.

The students were invited to come to the school at 9AM to rehearse and take pictures. Everyone was there on time and the mood was great. 1,5 meters of the mandatory social distancing did not prevent anyone from being cheerful and excited to be there.

At 11 AM, the long-anticipated ceremony started. The commencement welcome address was done by Dr Lehmann and was qualified as “the best ever” by many parents and students. You can find it here.

Dylan A. wonderfully played “Thai’s Meditation”, a Julien Massenet violin piece.

Veronika S. and Zhikang D. came up with inspirational Graduation speeches on behalf of the graduating class, and Dr Rainer Groh*, an ISF graduate (Class of 2007) and Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at Bristol Composites Institute (ACCIS) sent his best wishes to the Graduates from United Kingdom in his commencement address.

The Theater erupted in loud cheers when Dr Ludwig presented the graduates of the class of 2020 to the online audience after his closing words.

About 400 guests from more than 15 countries from 10 time zones watched the ceremony from the beginning to the end.

We thank everyone who worked on the Online Graduation project and wish all the best to the 2020 graduating class. We already miss you.

*Dr Rainer Groh’s bio:

2007 - graduated from ISF via the AP curriculum.

2011 - Master of Engineering (First Class) from University of Bath. Awarded Most Outstanding Student and Best Research Project prizes. Also won the British University Sports Championships in the Long Jump (7.80 meters).

2011 - Awarded scholarship to complete PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bristol.

2016 - Graduated from University of Bristol with Faculty of Engineering Commendation. Also won Third Prize in the European Commission's CleanSky2 Project PhD awards, an award which recognizes outstanding PhD research work in aeronautics across Europe.

2015 & 2017 - Worked at NASA Langley Research Center to develop models for NASA's new Space Launch System.

2018 - Awarded a five-year Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. The most prestigious research grant for early-career engineers in the UK.

2019 - Awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize, an award which recognizes outstanding early-career researchers in any discipline across the UK