The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter at Missouri S&T was named NSBE Medium Chapter of the Year at the organization’s annual convention, held March 22-26 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Also at the convention, the Missouri S&T group won the Region V Medium Chapter of the Year and the chapter’s president, Abdu Ibrahim, received the Vanguard Member of the Year Award.

“Our members worked tirelessly to organize events and fundraisers,” says Ibrahim, a junior engineering management major from Rolla. “Without their dedication and hard work, we would not have been able to achieve what we have. We are excited to see how our members excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the S&T community.”

The S&T chapter was recognized as the nation’s best chapter in the tier 2, or medium, category and competed against over 50 other chapters for the title, according to Mohamed Elshiekh, membership chair of S&T’s NSBE chapter and a senior engineering management major from Rolla. Elshiekh and Ibrahim accepted the awards at the conference with chapter vice president Remy Haire, a sophomore civil engineering major from East St. Louis, Illinois, and Bruce Ervin, a junior information science and technology major from St. Louis, who serves as chair of NSBE’s Region V Missouri Zone. In addition to Missouri, Region V includes chapters from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.

NSBE was founded in 1975 to support and promote “the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology.” The organization’s mission is “to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.” The organization has over 24,000 active members and 600 chapters in the U.S. and abroad.

The Missouri S&T chapter was founded in 1977 and now has over 60 members. The S&T chapter’s achievements over the past year include growth from 24 members last academic year to 60-plus today and hosting outreach events to pre-college students to promote opportunities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. During the group’s annual PCI (pre-college initiative) Weekend at S&T in February, the chapter hosted 22 students from grades 9 through 12 to educate them about STEM opportunities.

Last October, the S&T chapter hosted an alumni event called “NSBE Homecoming Gala” to welcome S&T alumni back to campus. The chapter also had strong representation at various NSBE conferences, including the Region V Fall Regional Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, which was attended by approximately 30 members last November, and the national conference in Kansas City, which was attended by 54 members.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of approximately 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degree programs in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. S&T also is home to the Kummer Institute, made possible by a $300 million gift from Fred and June Kummer. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.