Penn State Behrend's Fall 2025 Commencement was held Friday, December 19, at Junker Center on the Behrend campus.
Graduates and their guests heard addresses by Dr. Ihab Ragai, professor of mechanical engineering, and Dennis Prischak '92g, president and CEO of The Plastek Group. The texts of the commencement addresses are below.
See the Fall 2025 Commencement Program
Not the Final Design: Mistakes, Iterations, and Duct Tape
Dr. Ihab Ragai
Good evening, graduates, families, faculty, and fellow humans who survived finals week.
I’m honored to be here today—especially because, as an engineer, when I was asked to give the speech, I was told there would be a clear agenda, a fixed timeline, and preferably a spreadsheet. Instead, I was handed a microphone and told, “Be inspiring.”
So … we’ll see how this goes.
Graduates, today you’re celebrating something huge. You finished a degree. That means you’ve proven you can meet deadlines, solve problems, and function on more caffeine and less sleep than legally advisable.
So, I’m an engineer. Engineers have a reputation for: loving systems, trusting data, and believing that if something isn’t working, it can be fixed with the right combination of analysis, iteration, tools, and shit load of duct tape.
But here’s the first lesson I want to share with you: Life does not follow a blueprint.
If it did, we’d all be issued a nice, color-coded flowchart at graduation:
- Step 1: Graduate
- Step 2: Get perfect job
- Step 3: Be successful by 30
- Step 4: Remain calm and fulfilled forever
That flowchart does not exist.
Instead, life looks much more like an early prototype: messy, unfinished, and occasionally on fire, like the stool in Burke 118. That’s a true story, by the way.
One of the most important things engineers learn is that failure is not the opposite of success—it’s part of the process. When shit happens, we have two options: Hand in our badge, turn off the lights, and head to the nearest bar, or try to figure out why.
You will make mistakes after today. Guaranteed.
That’s not failure—that’s data.
Mistakes are feedback. They are life’s way of saying, “Okay, now adjust the design.”
The people who do well in the long run aren’t the ones who never mess up. They’re the ones who learn faster than they panic.
Another thing engineers understand is iteration. Very few things work perfectly the first time. You test. You tweak. You improve. And sometimes you look at version one and say, “Wow. That was … ambitious.”
Your career will be like that, too.
Some of you have a clear plan right now. Some of you have abso-f’ing-lutely no idea what you’re doing next. And some of you are pretending to have a plan so your relatives will stop asking questions. And the truth is you don’t need to have your entire path figured out—you just need to take the next reasonable step, just make sure it’s legal.
Engineers call this working with incomplete information. The rest of the world calls it adulthood.
You’ll discover that the majority of people did not end up where they thought they were going. They followed opportunities, curiosity, and sometimes sheer stubbornness. They adjusted their course. They created their own path because the original one stopped making sense.
And that’s not a setback—that’s design flexibility.
So here’s my advice as you leave this place:
First, don’t be afraid to start before you feel ready. Readiness is often just confidence in disguise, and confidence usually shows up after you begin—not before, and it grows with experience.
Second, learn how to fail forward. No prototype works perfectly the first time. In your journey, you’ll face challenges. Don’t give up. Embrace them, learn from them, and reiterate.
Third, build or create things that matter to you with integrity. Not what looks impressive on paper. The work that sustains you is the work aligned with your values—even if it takes longer, even if it’s unconventional. No matter what, in life, integrity is your foundation. Do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
And finally, remember that you are more than your output. You are not a machine. You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to change your mind. You are allowed to redefine success more than once.
Graduates, today you are launching into the world with skills, knowledge, and a toolbox you may not fully appreciate yet. You won’t get everything right. None of us do. But if you stay curious, adaptable, and willing to learn from what doesn’t work, you’ll be just fine.
So go out there. Design with intention. Test often. Revise freely. And when shit hits the fan—and it will—remember: that’s not the end.
It’s just the next iteration.
Congratulations, Class of 2025. Your blueprint is yours to draw and redraw. Make it bold. Make it brilliant. And above all, make it meaningful.
Thank you.
Dr. Ihab Ragai is a professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State Behrend.
Life Lessons I've Learned
Dennis Prischak '92g
Good evening, Chancellor Ford, trustees, faculty and staff and, of course, the great Penn State Behrend Class of 2025. Thank you very much for inviting me to be a commencement speaker tonight. I am very honored to be here and to share with all of you, especially you graduates, some of my thoughts and experiences, and things I’ve learned over the years.
When I was asked by Chancellor Ford to speak, I thought to myself: What can I or will I speak about? I don’t view myself as an official motivational or inspirational speaker, although I do get in front of people from time to time to say a few words, especially at company events.
Those talks, however, are often more informative and less motivational—although as CEO of a company you must be able to motivate, in some way, your colleagues to perform well and grow your company.
So, upon accepting Chancellor Ford's request, I began to think a little more in depth about what I may say. I looked at my past experiences over the years and at some of the important things that inspired me, stay with me to this day, and give me grounding to fall back on when I need them. I hope that some of these resonate, perhaps inspire, you a bit and bring you value. Or at least give you some things to consider.
First, though a little background on me. I grew up here in Erie, the oldest of five boys— Dennis, Daniel, David, Douglas, and Donald—and had two very wonderful, loving, and caring parents, Joe and Isabel.
I attended Our Lady of Peace School and Cathedral Prep. I then attended Lehigh University, graduating with a Mechanical Engineering degree. Following graduation, I returned to Erie, and began working full-time at Plastek, our family business that my father started in 1956. I then completed an 8,000-hour toolmaking apprenticeship, as my father insisted that my brothers and I do that, saying that “If everything goes to hell in a handbasket, you’ll have good living to fall back on.”
While working full-time, I earned an MBA here at Penn State Behrend over five years of night school. I have continued working in our family business alongside my brothers, and so far, we haven’t wrecked it since my father retired in 2002. I have also been supported in my career by an amazing wife, Tara, who has been at my side for 30 years and three wonderful daughters, Sara, Leah, and Emma, whom I am very proud of. I truly am blessed, thankful, and appreciative for all I have and have done so far.
Tonight, there are four important experiences and life-learnings of mine I want to share with you. These are in addition to the values I learned from my amazing parents and family as well as those from my Catholic school upbringing. I promise this talk will not go on forever, so here we go.
The four are:
- Know Your Governing Values
- How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
- You Can Learn Something From Everyone
- Never Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up
First: Know Your Governing Values.
Way back, when we still used pens, pencils, and notebooks, I bought my first Franklin Planner. I’m not sure whom or how many of you know the Franklin Planner method of scheduling and prioritizing your day, but it is still popular but has since naturally gone electronic. The method they used was not rocket science. It simply involved listing and writing down the tasks for the day and prioritizing them as A’s, B’s, and C’s and then listing the numbered order you wanted to complete them in.
However, the key to the whole thing was in prioritizing. And to help you with prioritizing they asked you to first set out, identify, and write down your Governing Values with some detail and context for each.
These Governing Values are your True North. They are what you hold dear and most important in your life and are what should lead you in the choices you make. Over time they may or may not change, but the important thing is identifying what they are today.
I can tell you that coming up with and describing my Governing Values took a great deal of time, thought, and effort. It made me think about who I was and what was most important to me. There wasn’t any specific number or specific values promoted. Your Governing Values are yours and yours alone. I can only say that, once you know who you are and what you want, you will more easily plan for your future, stay on course, and help lead you to a successful and rewarding life.
Second: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
Many years ago, my father and I took a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking. The course included three books. They were How to Stop Worrying and Start Living; How to Win Friends and Influence People; and The Quick and Effective Way To Easy Speaking. I highly recommend reading all three even if you don’t take the course.
While I learned a lot from these books, and you can be the judge of my “effective speaking” success tonight, one of the most important things I learned was from the How to Stop Worrying and Start Living book.
As we all know, everyone has worries, anxieties, and stresses because we all have stuff. We all have things in our lives, in our families, in our work, and in our friendships that cause these things. If you know anyone that seems worry-free or stress-free, you probably don’t know the whole story. So, learning how to cope with and deal with these is a key to a happy life.
The main emphasis here is, to the extent possible, finding a way to accept the worst of any situation. If you can do this, it may put your mind more at ease and lower your stress. Then, if the situation turns out any better, it’s a bonus. The hardest part though is, once again, trying to accept the worst first.
I’m not saying it’s easy to apply. While health- and life-threatening situations are the most difficult to handle, this approach can be applied in many of our regular day-to-day situations. Things that may not be of utmost importance but annoying or bothersome none the less. If we can truly accept that not everything can go as planned or as we would like, we can reduce our overall anxiety and stress. And every little bit helps.
Anyway, that concept is something I think about a lot. Almost every day in fact. Hmm, maybe I’m even using some of that thinking here tonight!
As a side note and somewhat analogous to this idea, and as my wife and daughters know so well, I live a lot by sayings. And, if you don’t know it, Salada tea bags have a lot of them. Many are quite good and thought-provoking. Of the many I’ve saved, and I’ve saved a lot, there are two that I believe can help reduce anxiety. The first is that “Happiness is meeting your expectations so manage your expectations” and the other is “You are as happy as you make yourself out to be.” Both of these require knowing your Governing Values and what makes you happy and knowing that so much of it is something we can control a fair amount.
Third: You Can Learn Something From Everyone.
In all my years in school, at work, and in my daily life, I’ve observed people under all kinds of situations. Whether it’s with a co-worker, a customer, a supervisor, a friend, or whomever. I’ve seen, firsthand, how some people succeed and how some people fail in what they’re trying to achieve. In my mind, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly.
And what I believe is that no matter who the person is or whether or not you like or respect that person, there is something you can learn from them. In any particular situation, did this person handle themselves professionally? Did you like what they did and how they did it? Did they succeed in what they were trying to do? Would it have worked with you? Those are some of the things to think about when you’re observing people in action. Then it’s up to you to either imitate those traits, modify them to suit you, or avoid them all together.
I can say that I have intentionally used things I like from people I may not like and intentionally avoided things I don’t like from people I do like. The point is we can learn something from everyone.
And finally, fourth: Never Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up.
One day a long time ago, I watched a YouTube speech by a very famous and successful basketball coach: Jimmy Valvano, or Jimmy V. I’m not sure how or why I found it as I’m not a sports guy but it was obviously memorable and part of it has stuck with me ever since.
In that speech, where he was accepting an ESPY award for courage and in the final days of his battle with cancer, he said there were three things people should do every day: laugh, think, and cry.
But the most memorable part and the one that stuck with me most was his plea to “never give up, don’t ever give up.” While he was speaking about cancer research and trying to find the cure, those words can apply to any of the struggles or difficulties we face. The point is you’re never defeated if you never give up, it’s never over until it’s over, and it doesn’t stop until you stop.
We all have stuff, as I mentioned earlier, but it’s when things look dark and bleak you need to dig deep, find your True North, rely on your Governing Values to keep pushing forward, and never give up.
Today, you in the graduating class are proof you haven’t given up. You have succeeded and achieved a milestone in your lives. No doubt just one of many more to come. Penn State has given you the tools necessary to succeed and succeed well. It’s up to you to use them wisely, to persevere in your goals and to, someday, reflect on your lives, on the things you’ve achieved, and the things you have learned. Maybe then, when people ask you, you can tell them your story.
So, I’m asking each of you here tonight, not just the graduates, but everyone here tonight that, as you face the continued challenges and roadblocks in your life, whether it is with you job, your friends, or, even more importantly, your family, I ask you to “never give up, don’t ever give up.”
And finally, to you graduates, please be sure to thank the people who helped you get to this point in your life. Whether it’s your family, your friends, your teachers, your mentors, or all of the above, please be sure you thank them, and thank them often, for, without them, you almost certainly wouldn’t be here tonight.
With that I want to again say thank you to Chancellor Ford for offering me this opportunity to speak with you tonight. I hope you got something out of what I’ve said and, perhaps even just a little inspiration. And I hope you all continue to succeed in your lives and in the things that matter most to you.
Congratulations again to the Class of 2025.
Thank you, and good night.
Dennis Prischak '92g is president and CEO of The Plastek Group.