National Society of Black Engineers Return Home from National Convention with Awards and Job Offers

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Daytona Beach chapter recently returned from the 44th Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with good news.

Amidst the workshops, visits to the exhibition hall and collegiate competitions, 14 of the 25 Embry-Riddle NSBE members attending the convention secured interviews during the convention with companies such as Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, General Electric, Microsoft, Rockwell Collins, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force. Seven students received job or internship offers.

Embry-Riddle junior Naia Butler-Craig, who is majoring in Aerospace Engineering, also received the Region III Executive Board Member of the Year Award.

"The NSBE executive board created workshops and events throughout the year that developed our members academically, socially and professionally, keeping NSBEs missions statement to heart,” said William Wanyagah, president of the Embry-Riddle NSBE chapter and an aerospace engineering junior. “I am happy overall with the determination and perseverance of NSBE members who attended the 44th annual conference in Pittsburgh."

Naia Butler-Craig, a NASA Pathways intern for the NASA Glenn Research Center, served as the 2017-2018 Region III Membership Chair overseeing membership activities for Region III, which includes members in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, the Caribbean and South America. The award is given to a regional executive board member who went above and beyond what was required.

Payton Boliek, vice president of the Embry-Riddle chapter, was promoted at the convention to the board for Region III and will oversee members of all chapters as the 2018-2019 Region III Membership Chair, succeeding Butler-Craig. The region has about 3,000 members, Butler-Craig said.

Co-advisors for the Embry-Riddle chapter, who helped students prepare for the convention, are assistant professor Dr. Leroy L. Long III and Kenneth E. Hunt, director of Embry-Riddle’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.