Fifteen students from the School of Engineering had the opportunity to attend the National Society of Black Engineers Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
This past March, 15 students from Fairfield University’s School of Engineering attended the 49th Annual National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Convention. During the four-day convention, Morwan Abbe '23, Prince Addo MS’25, Leandra Aikins ’24, Lauren Ashong MS’26, Kafo Bagagnan ’23, David Camayo Ocampo ’25, Kaylee Christie ’23, Kareem Fridaus '23, Kenneisha Norford ’23, Aniyah Pettway '24, Kobi Okpoti ’23, Kameron Reynolds '24, Christopher Rodriguez ’23, Ryan Van Allen ’26, and Alexander White ’25 met representatives from other engineering schools, attended empowering speeches delivered by prominent industry professionals, and participated in a variety of career networking opportunities.
One of the largest student-led organizations in the nation with over 600 chapters, The National Society of Black Engineers is dedicated to increasing the pipeline of Black engineers in the industry. This year’s annual convention drew more than 10,000 participants and 300 companies. Companies in attendance included Tesla, Apple, Ford, Microsoft, General Dynamics, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and more.
NSBE Fairfield chapter president Aniyah Pettway met representatives from NSBE chapters throughout the U.S. and introduced herself to industry leaders at the career fair. “I was able to grow my confidence and ability to network and connect with some of the biggest companies around the nation.”
The career fair was also a highlight for Kameron Reynolds: “As a mechanical engineering major, I was able to land three offers from this conference that I potentially would not have received had I not attended. Fortunately, thanks to my leadership roles in Fairfield's School of Engineering, I was able to gain a larger advantage than the competition and land these offers,” he said.
Kaylee Christie also expanded her career options, interviewing with Lockheed Martin, American Express, GE Healthcare, Major League Baseball (MLB), and Abbott during the convention. From this experience, she secured a summer internship with MLB in the data engineering department, and a full-time data analyst role for the Credit and Fraud Risk department at American Express.
She noted, “Being granted an opportunity to be welcomed into a space as a Black woman in engineering is an experience that I will not forget and I am excited for the opportunity of Lifetime Membership with NSBE.”
