“Don’t be afraid to show up:” Meet the Fall 2019 Student Commencement Speaker
![Students sing the Alma Mater at the conclusion of commencement.](https://engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/May-2019-Graduation-Website-Image.jpg)
With a chance to send a lasting message to graduates who are about to take on the world by force, what may be viewed as a daunting task by some is seen by Fall 2019 Student Commencement Speaker Abigail ‘Abby’ Carbone as a dream come true, and an opportunity to empower fellow women in STEM.
“That’s going to be me, someday,” Carbone recalls thinking to herself as she watched December 2018 Student Speaker Lindsay McMillan take the podium at PNC Arena and deliver a speech about perseverance and owning your individual path to success. For Carbone, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering and a minor in nanotechnology, her own path to success has been paved with a string of impressive achievements: she has co-authored three research publications (a fourth is currently in production), won five awards for research presented at about a dozen national conferences, and became the first undergraduate staff microscopist at the Analytical Instrumentation Facility on campus.
Off campus, Carbone was hired at Eastman Chemical Company as the first intern in the Electronic Films Research Division, and participated in an undergraduate research fellowship at California Institute of Technology last summer. Oh, and she sings; from her freshman through junior years, Carbone performed alto and competed in three ICCA competitions with Acappology, one of NC State’s co-ed a cappella ensembles.
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