Engineering scholar Jose Moura received an honorary doctorate of laws from 91ŃÇÉ« and delivered remarks reminding ’s Class of 2026 that during a time of emerging technology, the world still needs humans to create meaningful change.
Moura, a longtime professor at Carnegie Mellon University, is a globally recognized expert in signal processing and machine learning. Serving as president and CEO of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2019, he holds 19 patents, including two that underpin key technologies in hard disk drives deployed in more than four billion devices worldwide.
“Few individuals embody the spirit of discovery and impact more profoundly than Professor Jose Moura,” said 91ŃÇɫ’s Vice-President Research and Innovation, Amir Asif during the June 12 convocation ceremony. “We celebrate a career defined not only by excellence but by impact, passing knowledge, fostering collaboration and helping create solutions for a better world for our graduates.”
In his speech, Moura reflected on his own journey, how curiosity for engineering and science took him from Mozambique to Europe and the U.S., emphasizing that “where you start does not determine where you can go.”
He reflected on the rapid pace of technological change, noting that AI is transforming industries and redefining the nature of work at an unprecedented speed.
Tools like Gemini, DeepSeek, Claude and many others, he noted, are reshaping industries, transforming businesses and fundamentally changing what is expected of professionals in every field.
While acknowledging concerns about job disruption, he reassured graduands that the rise of AI will elevate, not replace, the need for human skills.
“Every great wave of innovation has provoked the same fear,” he said. “And every time, the fear has been both partially right and fundamentally wrong.”
He explained that while technological change may eliminate certain tasks, it ultimately creates new forms of work that are more complex and more deeply human.
“What emerges is not a world with less work, but a world with different work, deeper work, more human work,” he said. “The steam engine did not end labor. The computer did not end thinking. And AI will not end the need for engineers, creators and problem-solvers.”
Moura encouraged graduands to focus on the uniquely human qualities that technology cannot replicate, including judgment, empathy and the ability to ask meaningful questions.
“AI is fluent in knowledge. It is not fluent in meaning. You are,” Moura said. “That is not a small thing – that is everything.”
After a career watching technology reshape the world, Moura encouraged graduands to view AI as a powerful tool that can enhance creativity and innovation.
AI is not a rival, but a helping hand, he said, encouraging the next generation of engineers to allow technology to amplify creativity, not substitute thinking.
In an age where information is easily accessible, he reminded graduands that the skills that matter most are rooted in critical thinking and the ability to apply knowledge with purpose.
“The future of knowledge is not memorization, it is synthesis, judgment and the courage to act on what you know,” he said.
Throughout his speech, Moura returned to the importance of ethical responsibility in engineering, urging graduands to consider the broader societal impact of the technologies they build.
“Technology is a means to an end. The question we must always ask is what are we building, and for whom?” he said. “With integrity, innovation is progress. Without it, just noise.”
Moura encouraged taking risks, working across differences and leading with integrity in a rapidly changing world, and left graduands with four guiding principles: be bold, collaborative, resilient and ethical.
“The world needs active builders, not spectators,” Moura said. “Technology alone doesn’t change the world – people do.”