USF Bellini College Holds Inaugural Tech and Engineering Induction Ceremonies

Students from the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing gathered in the Marshall Student Center's Oval Theater for the college's inaugural induction ceremonies. The event recognized their formal transition into the engineering and computer science professions.

Launch Dean Sudeep Sarkar oversaw the ceremonies and noted their significance for students who helped establish the new college. "You are graduating at a defining moment in the life of the Bellini College, and your achievements are now part of the foundation on which your college will continue to grow," he said during the proceedings.

The college's computer science, cybersecurity and information technology students participated in an induction to the profession ceremony. They accepted a pin that symbolizes their commitment to integrity and professional conduct. Graduates in the engineering field also participated in the Order of the Engineer ceremony, which emphasizes the ethical responsibilities of the profession and included receiving a stainless-steel ring.

Dr. José Morey, a member of the Bellini College Academic Advisory Board, served as the keynote speaker for Friday's event. Morey, who is a physician, founder and CEO of Ad Astra Media, has served in leadership and advisory roles with NASA, MIT, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Morey reflected on how curiosity, creativity, adaptability and a willingness to cross disciplines shaped his own unconventional career path. He encouraged graduates to embrace change rather than fear it. "You are entering a world changing faster than any generation before has ever seen," he said.

He noted that AI is rewriting industries in real time. Medicine is becoming personalized through genetics and technology. Robotics are changing labor, and even the definition of what a career is, is evolving. That change has caused uncertainty, which can worry some whose identity is built around stability.

"But history has never belonged to the people who resisted change," Morey said. Using Leonardo da Vinci as an example of someone who was able to evolve, adapt and persevere, Morey emphasized that the future will be defined by those who continue learning, think beyond traditional boundaries and connect fields like technology, science and the humanities.

"We are now in a new Renaissance, another explosion of knowledge, another rewriting of the future, which means that you as students, and we in society, have two choices," he said. "We can fear change or we become adaptable enough to thrive within it. The people who succeed in the next 20 years will not necessarily be the people with the highest grades. It will be the people who can reinvent themselves again and again."

The physical reality of these ceremonies matters. Students sat through hours of speeches while pins and rings were distributed. The stainless-steel rings weigh something tangible in your hand (a small but meaningful weight, considering what they represent). The pins get pinned onto lapels that will soon be worn at job interviews and industry conferences.

Following Morey's remarks, the ceremony returned to its focus on the graduates and the responsibilities they will carry into their respective fields. "As our world becomes more and more dependent on digital infrastructure, including artificial intelligence, the tools you will use will change, the roles you will play will evolve, and the challenges you will encounter will grow more complex," Sarkar said.

"But the knowledge, habits and ethical foundation you have developed will help you meet those changes with confidence and purpose," he added.

This marks a milestone for the Bellini College, which has been establishing itself as a dedicated home for AI, cybersecurity and computing education at USF. The college launched with new interdisciplinary computing majors beginning Fall 2026, blending computer science and AI with social sciences, business and criminology.

The ceremonies align with the college's broader mission to prepare students for technology-driven careers by integrating technical skills with human, strategic and ethical perspectives. Registration for these programs opens March 30.

Whether these symbolic gestures translate into actual career success remains to be seen. The tech job market is volatile, and pins and rings don't guarantee employment. But the ethical framework emphasized during these ceremonies could prove valuable as graduates navigate an industry where the tools change faster than most can keep up.

For more information about the Bellini College and its programs, visit the official USF announcement.

Artūras Malašauskas is an AI Systems Integrator with 20+ years of production-grade web engineering experience. He has designed, shipped, and scaled enterprise Python/PHP systems for logistics, SaaS, and public-sector clients. For the past year, he has focused exclusively on AI integrations: deploying open-source LLMs, building generative media pipelines (image, audio, video), and engineering multi-agent workflows for real production environments. His standard: reproducibility, security, cost-efficient inference—no vaporware. He documents and evaluates emerging AI tooling, separating verified capabilities from marketing noise. Technical editor at: muza-ai.eu, ai-verslas.lt, ai-naujinos.lt Connect on LinkedIn