Global Engagement Celebrates International December Graduates

December 3, 2020 clehman

The Office of Global Engagement wishes to congratulate all international December 2020 graduates!

Our graduates also took this opportunity to reflect on the journey they underwent during their time at NC State and how their experiences shaped them to become global citizens, ready to think and do on a global scale.

Global Graduate – Salvatore Luiso

Native Italian, Salvatore Luiso, is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and shared his international experiences with us.

Salvatore Luiso and his wife at the International Festival.

I’m originally from Italy and NC State has been my home for the past six years. I’m passionate about my work on Lithium-ion batteries, but I also like to bake bread, as I love to cook both in the lab and in the kitchen. Here at NC State, I truly embraced what it means to be an international student thanks to the Office of International Services (OIS) and the diversity I found at NC State.

I volunteered for the Culture Corps program, which led me to a beautiful inter-cultural journey across NC State University and to the surrounding schools. NC State OIS doesn’t just help the international students, but it encourages them to share the best of their cultures for a better, more beautiful, and diverse world. The best memories I have in these regards are related to the several International Festivals I attended with my wife Angela at our little Italian booth, where so many people came interested in our country and our culture. At our booth, we always have a manual pasta maker and we loved seeing how kids and adults are equally excited about learning how to make pasta.

After defending my Ph.D., I’ll move to Phoenix, AZ, to work in the semiconductor industry. It’s going to be exciting since I’ve never been to the west side of the country before and I can’t wait to start this new adventure! I’ll miss NC State dearly, and I’ll bring everything I’ve learned with me.