ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
March 31, 2005
Black engineers find common ground in Hub
Yawu Miller
Amuche Okeke had finished high school, completed
one year at University of Ife in Nigeria and transferred to the
University of Arizona before she had heard of the National Society
of Black Engineers.
It was only last week at the NSBE annual convention in Boston
that she learned that NSBE has a chapter at River State University
in Nigeria. Okeke and more than 10,000 other NSBE members forged
new connections with black engineers from throughout the United
States, Africa, Europe and the Americas during the convention,
which was held at the John B. Hynes Convention Center.
For five days, smartly-dressed engineers and engineering students
filled the convention center and the adjoining hotels shuttling
back and forth between seminars, lectures and networking events.
NSBE was founded in 1971, when six black Purdue students noticed
that 80 percent of black students weren’t graduating from
the engineering program there. The problem was similar nationally.
NSBE now serves as a support network for black engineering students,
helping with everything from academic skills to job placement.
The organization’s national convention draws dozens of recruiters
from universities and corporations including auto manufacturers,
aerospace, high tech and government agencies.
Saturday, Boston-area middle and high school students had the
run of the convention during the organization’s first-ever
community day, a program that let the students participate in
the convention free of charge.
For John D. O’Bryant School senior Shamia Hicks, the conference
presented an opportunity to brush up on job interviewing skills.
“They teach you how to have a conversation with a recruiter,
how to make a good first impression, how you dress, how you speak
and how you present yourself,” she said.
The local students mingled with students from all over the country,
attending workshops, college fairs and job fairs. Jefferson Fernandes,
a Northeastern University senior who volunteers with the Ronald
E. McNair program, the conference provided the opportunity for
his students to talk to black engineers working in their field.
“We wanted to give the students a more broad perspective
on what’s going on,” he said. “To meet other
people who actually do what they’re studying.”
At the college fair, recruiters urged Fernandes’ students
to continue participating in after-school programs.
“It increases your chances of getting into college,”
said Cynthia Pierre, a recruiter with Northwestern University.
“It looks good on your resume.”
The youth and international students are two populations newly-appointed
NSBE Executive Director Carl Mack has prioritized in his pledge
to increase the visibility and membership of the 1,500-member
organization.
Mack attended the meeting of the international students, as did
past chairwoman Virginia Booth-Gleghorn and founding member Tony
Harris.
NSBE has more than 300 international members with chapters in
Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Nigeria,
South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, the US Virgin Islands and Zimbabwe.
Harris said NSBE will bring in specialists with experience in
developing countries to help asses the needs of the international
chapters, then fashion a plan to better integrate them into the
organization.
“It may be a five-year plan, it may be a ten-year plan,
but it’s going to happen,” he said.
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