Newswise — Alberto Bustani, president of the Monterrey Region of the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico, will deliver the keynote address at Virginia Tech's 2007 Graduate Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 11.

The Graduate Commencement Ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum. Approximately 1,200 graduate students are expected to receive their diplomas at the ceremony.

Bustani began his career in 1983 as the development manager in the area of direct reduction of iron ores for HYL Steel Company, based in Monterrey. In 1987, he became the head of the chemical engineering department at ITESM. In 1992, Bustani started the Centre for Environmental Quality at Monterrey Tec, where he stayed as director until 1998. Bustani then returned to ITESM as dean of the School of Engineering and Architecture, until he was named president of the institute in 2001.

Bustani has extensive experience in the energy and environmental fields, and has conducted a variety of research related to energy and environmental technology and policy, which has earned his work a patent.

He is co-author of Mexico's "Status Report on Pollution Prevention" for the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation. He is also author of the paper "Consciousness of Social Responsibility under the NAFTA," presented at the Aspen Institute in October 1999.

Bustani, who earned his bachelor's degree from ITESM and his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield in England, has received numerous prizes and awards for his academic and research work. He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield in 2005.

The Monterrey Campus is the center of the 33-campus ITESM System, recognized in Latin America for its engineering, medicine, and business schools, and has a presence throughout Mexico, with sites also in Latin America, the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. ITESM and Virginia Tech are engaged in several collaborative projects.