NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011 - (Page 40)

students head to the seeK academy at san diego state University in July. SEEKing Excitement for STEM Calvin Phelps, NSBE’s national chair, agrees. “Engineers aren’t created in college or high school,” he says. “They’re developed at an early age.” He notes that until the third grade, blacks perform the same in math and science as white students. “SEEK is literally inserting itself into the process,” he says. “We have the ability to motivate and encourage students. That’s what we’re going to need to increase the number of black engineers.” W By Siobhan Leftwich hen most kids think of summer camp, they envision wood cabins, nights around the campfire and days spent crafting and canoeing. So, when Dana Hentz’s parents first told her she’d be attending an engineering camp called SEEK, she balked. “It just didn’t sound like fun,” she says. But her mother, Francine, persisted. “We saw a great opportunity for Dana to learn about math, science and engineering.” “And by the end of the third week,” recalls Dana’s father, Larry, “she didn’t want it to end.” Now 12, Dana has been attending NSBE’s Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) program in Washington, D.C., for the past three years. “I have worked on so many great engineering projects and made so many friends,” says Dana, who has a strong aptitude for science. “And my math grades have improved, too.” This is the kind of feedback Carl B. Mack likes to hear. Since 2005, when he took his post as executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers, Mack has made it his mission to expand NSBE’s Pre-College Initiative. “I knew that if we wanted to grow the organization seriously, we would need to start a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline early — in elementary school,” he recalls. “Last year, less than 3,300 black engineers graduated from college,” he laments. “And every year, more than 10,000 black students declare engineering (as their) major. We want to change those statistics. Our goal is to put 100,000 kids into the STEM pipeline.” hiGh demand Since 2007, SEEK has been providing a free, three-week, engineering day camp experience for students across the country, thanks to funding from sponsors such as Battelle, Chevron Corporation, The Clorox Company, GE, Intel Corporation, Motorola, Inc., San Diego Gas & Electric Company and the U.S. Coast Guard, among others. This past summer, students attended SEEK programs in four cities across the country: Washington, D.C.; Columbus, Ohio; and San Diego and Oakland, Calif. This year was the first for SEEK camps in California, and they were hugely successful. At the two SEEK locations in D.C., more than 900 students applied for 600 openings, Mack reports. The students in all four cities received instruction and guidance from “SEEK mentors”: 183 NSBE collegiate members from across the U.S. — most of them engineering majors. “We’ve been working with NSBE for more than 10 years on college campuses, and we’ve always been impressed by their students,” says Nancy Smith-Taylor, the manager of staffing for San Diego Gas & Electric, which contributed $50,000 toward www.nsbe.org 40 • nsbe magazine • fall 2011 http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011

NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011
Contents
The Next Level
Achievement Finds an Ally
Leadership, Your Way
The Programs Zone
Dr. Philicity Williams of the National Security Agency
Chapter News
Membership News
International News
NSBE Advisor Makes History
Pack Out Pittsburgh!
Empowered by Vision
Top Officers
St. Lucian Students Thrive at IIT
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
SEEKing Excitement for STEM
What’s New?
NSBE Calendar
The Professional’s Perspective
Shifting to Renewables for Electric Power
Alumni Officers
The Japan Effect
AE Members on the Move
Golden Torch Honoree
‘Brother Founder’ Donates $100K to NSBE
XL’ent!
Building Successful AE Chapters
Advertisers Index

NSBE Magazine - Fall 2011