Last week, Diane and I drove down to Pittsburgh to watch Patrick defend his dissertation at Carnegie-Mellon University. The defense was held in a large classroom. About 50 faculty members and students showed up to watch Patrick talk about the privacy issues he studied for the past six years. One of the requirements of the defense was putting up at least 10 posters announcing the event. If you want to see more and read more of Patrick’s work, click here.
Patrick delivered a 45-minute PowerPoint presentation. Then there were 20 minutes of questions from the audience. Then 30 more minutes of grilling by Patrick’s doctoral committee. Then we all had to empty the room except for the committee. After some deliberation, the committee told Patrick that he had successfully defended his dissertation. Patrick has to tweak his dissertation a bit before he submits it to the Graduate School, but for all intents and purposes, he has earned his dissertation. Patrick will be “hooded” at a graduation ceremony in May. Congratulations, Patrick! We’re very proud of you!