Oti Agbeyegbe (IndE 1T3 + PEY) was inspired by his engineer dad. Lloyd Wiredu (CompE 1T1 + PEY) was sparked by Dexter’s Lab. And for Jean-Yves Ntamwemezi (CompE 1T1 + PEY), he knew he wanted to be an engineer after his family bought their first computer.
They all took different roads to U of T Engineering. But that road could have been easier if they knew they didn’t have to take it by themselves.
“I was one of very few black students in my school who were interested in engineering. It helps to know that you don’t have to do it alone. Having a support group may not affect your marks, but it matters,” said Ntamwemezi.
Once they set foot on the U of T campus, they heard about the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). NSBE is the largest student-managed organization in the world, with more than 300 chapters on university and college campuses.
Every NSBE chapter has the same mission: increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community. NSBE U of T is the largest chapter in Toronto.
Now as NSBE U of T executive board members, Wiredu (President), Ntamwemezi (Vice President), Agbeyegbe (Pre-College Initiative Chair), along with Life Science student Sayo Falade (Administrative Director), hope to support and inspire black youth to pursue and succeed in engineering.
Through social, technical and outreach programs, they are doing exactly that. “On the social side, we have team-building events, like movie night, game night – and then there’s D-Battle. It’s the largest dance battle on campus,” said Wiredu. Technical programs include, Study Bash, which provides study sessions, peer mentorship and career guidance.
Their outreach efforts have been the most ambitious, however. In collaboration with U of T Engineering’s Student Outreach Office, the ENGage program was launched in summer 2010. ENGage allows black youth – in grades seven and eight – to explore engineering through week-long, hands-on projects.
The program was conceived by Mikhail Burke (MSE 1T2) and Sayo’s brother, Ayokanmi Falade (MechE 1T1 + PEY), in 2009, when they were President and Vice-President, respectively.
In its two years of existence, ENGage has grown from a week-long summer program with 25 participants in 2010, to a two week-long program, with 50 participants in 2011. ENGage is the only Canadian outreach program of its kind that is led by an NSBE chapter. This year, it was coordinated in part by Agbeyegbe.
“As an ENGage instructor, I saw first-hand the enthusiasm from the students. It’s an amazing feeling, being able to give them the exposure and support they need to pursue engineering,” said Agbeyegbe.
With February being Black History Month, the significance of NSBE is all the more apparent. “Even if we get one student interested in going into this field, that means we’ve made an impact in their life and that we’ve achieved our mission statement,” said Wiredu, “We want them to say, ‘I found a family here, I was able to get help when I needed it, and I found success because of NSBE.’”
