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Engineering News Fall 2015

Presidential Innovation Fellow Ross Dakin ’07 (left) on the job at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC

Presidential Innovation Fellow Ross Dakin ’07 (left) on the job at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC

Mr. Dakin Goes to Washington

In the 1939 film classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart played an idealistic junior senator sent to our nation’s capital to represent his state and fight political entropy for the benefit of his constituents. A tremendous success at the time, the film promoted a faith in our country and its people. Fast-forward to fall 2015 and alumnus Ross Dakin '07 (computer engineering) has gone to Washington, having been selected as a Presidential Innovation Fellow.

In the 1939 film classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart played an idealistic junior senator sent to our nation’s capital to represent his state and fight political entropy for the benefit of his constituents. A tremendous success at the time, the film promoted a faith in our country and its people.

Fast-forward to fall 2015 and alumnus Ross Dakin '07 (computer engineering) has gone to Washington, having been selected as a Presidential Innovation Fellow to serve a 12-month term as an embedded entrepreneur-in-residence working with expert federal employees and change-makers to address our country's greatest challenges and improve programs serving more than 150 million Americans.

Tall and lanky, approachable and intelligent (much like Mr. Stewart), Dakin has worked for several Silicon Valley startups and is a member of the School of Engineering Advisory Board. As a Presidential Innovation Fellow, he is excited to have the opportunity to effect change. "DC is chock full of brilliant people," he said; "it's very encouraging (and intimidating). There's a perception problem about government, especially among Millennials, and it's sadly producing apathy. I'm hoping to spread the word back home that government is not about politics—it's about doing together what we can’t do alone, and now there are more avenues than ever for technologists to directly contribute."

Since its launch in 2012, nearly 100 top innovators from across the nation have been asked to contribute as recruits in this highly competitive program. As we gear up for an election year and are assaulted with examples of politics at its worst, knowing that technologists and innovators of the highest caliber are being brought to the table to work alongside our nation's leaders goes a long way toward revitalizing faith in our government and its people.

Engineering, Innovation
computer engineering, Ross Dakin, Mr. Dakin Goes to Washington