EECS Pair Wins Big in Vegas

EECS students Angela Oguna (left) and Christa Curette walked away from the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) annual convention in March as elected regional officials. The former, an EE sophomore, will be the Academic Excellence Chair while the latter will serve as the Finance Chair.  Region V is made up of colleges from Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.

"The election process was scary and exciting at the same time. I was nervous to present my platform to my peers as well as others from across Region V," says Curette, a CoE junior."When I found out that I was elected, I was overjoyed. I really wanted the position and knew that I was qualified."

As a designated senator, Jerome Mitchell, a doctoral student in computer science, voted on behalf of the KU chapter in regional and national NSBE elections. This was his first time as part of the the NSBE electorate. Mitchell said it was an exciting, stressful experience. While honored to represent the KU chapter, the elections were not the highlight for the ambiable Mitchell.

"My favorite part of the conference was interacting with students at other universities as well as the career fair, which hosted close to 200 top tier companies," says Mitchell.

In addition to the EECS trio, 15 KU engineering students attended the 35th Annual National Convention from March 25-29. The NSBE event gives participants opportunities to network with thousands of students and engineers and enhance their technical skills.With more than 31,000 members, NSBE is one of the largest student-governed organizations in the country.

This spring the KU chapter elected Currette, Mitchell and Oguna president, vice president and secretary, respectively. For more information, please go to KU NSBE.