Vanderbilt’s NSBE Awarded Small Chapter of the Year

Vanderbilt’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter was awarded Region III Small Chapter of the Year at the 36th Annual National Convention. Twenty four students and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Burgess Mitchell attended the national convention in Toronto, Canada March 31 to April 4.

Vanderbilt’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter was awarded Region III Small Chapter of the Year at the 36th Annual National Convention. Twenty-four students and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Burgess Mitchell attended the national convention in Toronto, Canada March 31 to April 4.

“We are extremely honored to receive this award. This year it was truly a combined effort and we plan to continue to improve our programming over the next year,” said Erica Mills, Vanderbilt’s NSBE chapter president.

Convention activities included a pre-college initiative conference, a technical professional conference, graduate school conference, specialized exam training and academic competitions as well as motivational speakers, workshops, panel discussions, and executive roundtables.

Vanderbilt represented Region III in the Academic Technical Bowl Competition and competed against the other regional winners.  The Vanderbilt team consisted of Kyle McMillan, Gyanba Davis, Derrick Pugh and Douglass Dobbins-Carlock. The team scored the highest on the placement test ,but lost against Virginia-Tech.

A career and graduate school fair was held with over 300 exhibits of companies and graduate schools that included a talented pool of students and professional attendees. Several Vanderbilt students were selected for on-site job and internship interviews with companies such as General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, IBM, Lockheed Martin and more.

Speakers and seminars ranging from leadership and networking to post graduate preparation and study skills improvement were available to NSBE members. Vanderbilt’s Jerald Dumas, a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering, led a technical talk entitled, “Poly Urethane Mineralized Bone Particle Composites with Bone Morphogenetic Protein” at the conference.

Students who attended included Yakeyna Giovanni Anderson-McWhirter, Devin Brooks, J’Darius   Bush, Douglass Dobbins-Carlock, Duane Isaac Cook, Gyanba Ekua Davis, Jerald Dumas, Jessica Haley, Cameron L. Hill, Justin Jackson, Edwina Antionette Jones, Jonelle Patrice Mazell   , Kyle McMillan, Erica Mills, Derrick Lynn Pugh, Justin Saunders, Denise Smith, Paul Sparks, Andre T. Stevenson, Aba Temeng, Arkela Townsel, Steven Walston, Julian Arleigh White and Steven Young.