Vol. 38, No. 18

3-14-2007
By: Richard Gillette

Black engineers conference to leave lasting footprint

When a black engineers organization visits Columbus later this month, it will leave a footprint that two College of Engineering administrators say will benefit the university well into the future.

The annual National Society of Black Engineers conference, which expects more than 10,000 participants, will be held March 28-April 1 at the Columbus Convention Center.

The conference offers members of the student-run organization a chance to rub elbows with engineers from some of the top companies in the country, including Microsoft, Apple, NASA, Procter & Gamble and Owens Corning.

Education seminars are scheduled on leadership development, technical excellence, career advancement and many other topics. Also, some of the top leaders in the engineering profession will speak.

But to Greg Washington, associate dean of research, and Minnie McGee, assistant dean for outreach, an important part of the conference is what it will leave behind.

As part of its mission, NSBE has started a program designed to mentor and educate underrepresented populations of students.

The Pre-College Initiative Program is the society’s effort to promote college, academics, technology and leadership to pre-college students. The primary focus is to encourage students in grades 6-12 to develop interest and skills in math and science.

Through a collaboration with Battelle and the Honda Partnership, a NSBE Jr. chapter has been started at Walnut Ridge High School.

Students from Ohio State’s NSBE chapter visit Walnut Ridge on a weekly basis to help students with math and science lessons and to serve as mentors.

Future plans call for the creation of Jr. chapters at all middle and high schools in the Columbus Public School system.

McGee said the effort will not only create a culture where students realize an engineering career is possible, it will help Ohio State recruit future students.

“The very competitiveness of our country and society as we know it today will depend on the development of math and science skills,” said McGee, who was instrumental in starting the Ohio State NSBE chapter in the late 1970s. “Unless we do something drastic, we’re not going to have the talent we will need.”

When Washington and McGee chose their career paths, there were no engineering mentors for them.

“I grew up knowing I was good in math and science, but where I grew up there weren’t many outlets for a young child who excelled in these skills. NSBE helps serve this role at the university level, but also a more important part at lower grade levels,” Washington said.

The College of Engineering will hold a hospitality suite at the conference and will have booth space with exhibits like the Buckeye Bullet, Challenge X vehicle and the Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymeric Biomedical Devices. On March 29, the university will host 200 high school students for an all-day tour of campus.

McGee said this kind of interaction with students is important not only for the university, but for the future of the engineering profession.

“You have to cultivate that talent and make sure students have the prerequisite skills to be successful,” she said.

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