www.nsbe.org12 • NSBE MAGAZINE • CONVENTION 2015

The Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) continues to thrive, through the efforts of the National

Society of Black Engineers. It seems like yesterday that SEEK began with one pro-gram at the Friendship Edison Charter School campus in Washington, D.C. Since then, in 2007, SEEK has ascended to become the premiere program of the Society, with activities scheduled for 16 cities across the country in 2015. The program has served more than 12,000 students and 20,000 parents, and has employed 2,000 NSBE members as mentors, who guide the students through hands-on engineering design curricula. NSBE’s National Executive Board has implemented a plan to ensure that SEEK will be financially sustainable for years to come.

As growth continues, NSBE is focused on a strategic expansion, which includes offering the program in the host cities of NSBE’s Annual Convention. We are excited to announce that, as part of that expansion, SEEK is coming to Los Angeles, Calif., this summer, increas-ing the program’s presence in the state, which already has sites in Oakland and

San Diego. A SEEK program will also be offered in Boston, Mass., this sum-mer. NSBE’s Annual Convention will be held in Anaheim this year and Boston in 2016. In addition to those cities, Birmingham, Ala., and Harrisburg, Pa., will have inaugural SEEK programs this summer.

SEEK gives NSBE the opportunity to strengthen the Society’s foundation in cities in which the program is offered. Thus, once SEEK is established in a city, NSBE aims to sustain the program there for the foreseeable future by implementing a yearlong science, tech-nology, engineering and math (STEM engagement after SEEK’s three-week summer program ends. Components

of the yearlong engagement strategy include SEEK student matriculation into the NSBE Pre-College Initiative (PCI); NSBE Jr. chapters; and math enrich-ment activities through the academic year.

As SEEK expands, the curriculum for SEEK has expanded. SAE International has been the program’s curriculum partner since 2007 and will continue to provide SAE’s A World In Motion curric-ulum for SEEK. In addition, SEEK will include four new activities for students this summer. All of the curricula will teach basics of engineering disciplines, including chemical, environmental, mechanical, marine, electrical, aeronau-tical and civil engineering. ■

By Frank l in O . MooreNSBE SEEK D i rector

NSBE’s SUMMER ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE FOR KIDS

COMING SOON!

•2015•

ARES: Launch and Propulsion (NASA) – Students become familiar with how rockets are launched and learn how and why specific rockets are chosen for various payloads.Working with Wind Energy – Students learn about wind energy conversion, and they design and construct a wind turbine, test it and evaluate its performance.Hull Engineering – In this activity, students explore how hull shape impacts performance and stability of ships. Students design, build and test a hull, predict the performance of the various shapes developed and present their findings to the group.Build a Catapult (Engineering, Go for It!) – Students learn about the history of catapults and how they work. They assemble their own catapult model and make adjustments to improve its performance. Students gain engineering experience while learning principles of physics and working with the scientific processes of experimentation.

As SEEK expands, the curriculum for SEEK has expanded.

NEW CURRICULA

NSBE MAGAZINE • CONVENTION 2015 • 13www.nsbe.org