Most college mechanical engineering programs teach students to sketch products using computer-aided design software. Not every program asks students to then cast those products in molten metal, roiling at more than 2,000 degrees Celsius, but that's exactly what Bucknell mechanical engineering major Brishti Mandal '20 found herself doing on a Monday afternoon last semester.

We have so many talented, funny students at Bucknell, and over the years I've taught students from theatre, improv and stand-up groups who naturally wrote in a comic mode.

It was on an October afternoon in her junior year when Hayley Reiner '20 first experienced the art in engineering.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright — a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 2012 — will deliver the keynote address at Bucknell University's 169th Commencement on Sunday, May 19.

With precision and grace, a group of young women leap, twirl and glide in unison across the studio floor. They swoop through a flowing dance designed to mimic the movement of water, yards of white silk streaming from the sleeves of their jackets.

Many American travelers would consider visiting South Africa a wonderful opportunity, if only to see iconic sights like Table Mountain. For students who join the Bucknell in South Africa service-learning trip, that experience is deepened by the chance to work with social services agencies in Cape Town.

When Quinn Grossman '19 steps into his General Chemistry lab, he knows exactly what he needs to do. That's because the neuroscience major from Sewell, N.J., has been there before — not in real life, but in virtual reality.

Growing up, Karah James '21 fell in love with music, including a genre called soca from her father's native Trinidad, where the energetic sounds are the backdrop to dances at parties and Carnival.

On a clear night, the stars above Bucknell's campus shine brightly enough to make anyone marvel, but they're especially awe-inspiring for students in the observational astrophysics class taught by Professor Katelyn Allers, physics & astronomy.

Sam Blount '20 had never built a website before she and a team of fellow students tackled that task in a class — on behalf of a real client.

To make great stuff, sometimes you have to break stuff. UNIV 264, a course in materials science taught by Professor Tim Raymond, chemical engineering, takes this maxim to the extreme.

It's been a year of big announcements and even bigger achievements for Bucknell University.

Brock Hower '20, Abby Iaconis '20 and Jackson McCune '20 could have written final papers to fulfill the requirements of their Global Supply Chain Management course.

For India native Yash Mittal '19, coming to Bucknell was a "big jump" that led to even larger leaps. Last year, the computer science & engineering major studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he took a few unexpected turns on the dance floor — and a lot of photos.

Conor Moore '20 was the kind of high school student who read environmental science articles for fun, so majoring in environmental studies at Bucknell was a natural choice. What he couldn't have predicted was the first-year philosophy course that inspired him to add a second major in that discipline — or the opportunity to help shape a new class that marries his two interests.