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Page 8 The Skanner August 22, 2018 BACK TO SCHOOL Three African-Americans Claim Rare Engineering Accomplishment By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire he National Acad- emy of Engineer- ing has 83 new members this year, including a rare three African-Americans who are scheduled to be in- ducted in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Sep- tember 30. Lynden A. Archer, a James Friend Family Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the Smith School of Chem- ical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Gary S. May, chancellor of the Univer- sity of California, Davis; PHOTOS BY ANTONIO HARRIS T SEI Hosts 3rd Annual Homecoming Festival Self Enhancement, Inc. (SEI) hosted its annual summer music festival at Unthank Park (N. Kerby & N. Failing) Aug. 18. The Homecoming included live music, a children’s play area, food carts, community organizations and much more. Musical performances included Lakeside, Larhonda Steele, Zoulful Muzic, Speakers Minds, Nafisaria and DJ Juggernaut. “ gineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engi- neering, or developing/ implementing innova- tive approaches to engi- neering education.” The academy does not disclose the racial makeup of its member- ship, but past Journal of Blacks in Higher Educa- tion (JBHE) research has shown that Blacks make up about one percent of the members. According to an anal- ysis of the new mem- bership list by JBHE, it appears that there are three Black engineers I think African-American participation in engineering is crucial and Gabriel C. Ejebe, the senior project manager for energy trading and markets for Open Access Technology Internation- al in Minneapolis; are the three African American fellows. “I think African-Amer- ican participation in engineering is crucial,” said Archer, who joined the faculty at Cornell in 2000. Archer has earned recognition by the acad- emy for “advances in nanoparticle-polymer hybrid materials and in electrochemical energy storage technologies.” A graduate of the Uni- versity of Southern Cali- fornia where he majored in chemical engineering, Archer holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford Universi- ty. “We basically live in an era where engineering and science are essential- ly at the forefront of both human advancement and creating wealth,” Archer said. “It’s crucial to encour- age minority and African American youngsters to train their creativity in this field … it prepares you for so many things,” he said. Election to the National Academy of Engineering counts among the high- est professional distinc- tions accorded to an en- gineer. Academy member- ship reportedly honors those who have made outstanding contribu- tions to “engineering re- search, practice, or edu- cation, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the en- among the 83 new mem- bers. Two of the three — Archer and May — have current academic affilia- tions. The new members bring the total number of U.S. members to 2,293, according to JBHE. “I am honored to be in- cluded in the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2018,” said May, the seventh chancellor of UC Davis and one-time dean of the College of En- gineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. “It is gratifying to be recognized for my re- search in semiconductor manufacturing and for creating programs to encourage underrepre- sented groups to pursue STEM careers,” said May, a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology who earned selection to the academy for his con- tributions to semicon- ductor manufacturing research and for inno- vations in educational programs for underrep- resented groups in engi- neering. A St. Louis, Missouri, native, May holds a mas- ter’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. Despite his success, he said there’s still a glaring need for more individu- als of color in engineer- ing. “We need more diver- sity in engineering so that we solve problems that take into account all experiences and per- spectives,” May said. He encourages youth to seek mentors.