In honor of Computer Science Education Week on Dec. 6-12, 2021, the Senior School welcomed alumnus Roy Navid '16 as a guest speaker at community assembly on Monday, Dec. 6.

Navid is currently a mechanical systems engineer at Aerotech Inc. in Pittsburgh, where he designs high-precision automation equipment for Aerotech customers, such as 3D printing platforms and milling machines. He attended Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in England, earning both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Engineering degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering. During college and grad school he completed internships at Carnegie Mellon University's Computational Engineering and Robotics Lab and at Aerotech before joining Aerotech full-time in 2020 after earning his master's degree.

Navid spoke about how the SSA computer science classes he took and the coding skills he learned here provided a strong foundation for success as an engineering major in college. He shared several of the projects he's worked on during college and his internships that utilized his coding skills, including the design of urban air taxis for Rolls Royce and the design and 3D printing of porous sponges for medical use. In the Q&A session after his presentation, Navid shared that the communication and writing skills he learned at SSA have been critically important to his success as well, enabling him to present an engineering argument in a clear and convincing way.

Navid's visit was coordinated by the Senior School Computer Science Department, which is chaired by Dawson Haytock.

Thank you for coming back to SSA to share your journey with our current students, Roy!