It has been about two months since National Convention was held, and we are still as active as ever! We wrapped up the school year with a few more general body meetings and academic programs. We also held our annual Study-a-Thon this year to help prepare freshmen engineering students for finals which was again another success!

Additionally, we conducted our elections and successfully transitioned our new e-board into their positions for the upcoming school year. I had the opportunity to transition a bright, young freshman into my old position of fundraising chair for next year. I, for one, am very excited to see how amazing each of the new e-board members will be with their leadership roles.

As I stated in the last update, NSBE Nationals was a wonderful opportunity to meet other minority engineering students and professionals. In fact, there was a record breaking number of attendees at more than 13,000 people! Additionally, many of our members received internship and job offers from the career fair.

With such an air of opportunity all around the convention center, our members couldn’t help but to breathe in deeply. One member, Malik Roberts, caught a strong whiff and decided to take the opportunity to apply for a regional leadership position. He is a rising senior civil engineering major and was just recently appointed to the position of Region II Parliamentarian.

Our entire chapter is very proud of him, and I am excited to work alongside him and the rest of the Region II Executive Board! In his words:

“This year has been one of growth thanks to NSBE. Being a member has allowed me to connect with the community on campus as well as in the greater Pittsburgh area. It has also pushed me to become better academically, socially and as a leader with it’s many resources, events, and opportunities.”

This is not the first time that Malik has taken on a leadership role for the National Society of Black Engineers; he served the past two years as one of our two senators. He also helps to build up the youth in our area by volunteering with the Fund for the Advancement of Minorities through Education/Robotics (FAME Fund), in which he mentors middle school and high school aged students by helping with their school work and/or preparing them for competitions.

Again, we thank everyone for their donations to our cause! Pitt NSBE is far from being done. We plan to continue making a lasting impact on our campus and community and are happy to make our presence known and felt.

Best wishes,

Sydney R. Anderson

NSBE Region II Finance Chair

(Former PITT NSBE Fundraising Chair)

Hello! My name is Sydney and I currently serve as the Pitt NSBE chapter’s fundraising chair. I am a sophomore chemical engineering major and have been a NSBE member for two years.

Last week about 80 of our members went to the NSBE National Convention, which was held in Pittsburgh. We hosted a hospitality suite for other schools, companies, and engineering professionals. We also had information booths and on campus tours for prospective students.

Our members are active not only on campus but also in the community. Members served as mentors for STEM competitions with kids from the youth programs we volunteer with—F.A.M.E (Fund for Advancement of Minorities Through Education).

Personally, I had a splendiferous experience!

I ran for an office and won! (See the image of me taking the oath) I am so happy to now be the NSBE Region II Finance Chair (which covers 8 states and 3 countries).

Additionally, I judged a turbine competition for high school students—those kids were brilliant! I also competed in two research competitions myself—poster and oral.

Convention was such a wonderful opportunity to network with engineering professionals and meet other black engineering students like myself. Many of our members received interviews and/or job offers from companies at the career fair.

The convention closed out with the Golden Torch Awards, in which we saw black collegiate and professional engineers be awarded for their hard work and accomplishments (some were Pitt alum or staff).

Thank you for helping us get there!

Best wishes,

Sydney R. Anderson

DISCLAIMER---NATIONALS HAS PASSED, THEREFORE FUNDS RAISED BEYOND THIS POINT GO TOWARD REIMBURSMENT OF THIS YEAR’S CONVENTION AND NEXT YEAR’S OPERATIONAL BUDGET---