National Society of Black Engineers

[jai6638]

Hello there,

I'm a sophomore Industrial Engineering student of Indian origin doing my undergrad here in the US. I went to the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers conference last year with some hispanic friends and found the career fair to be very useful in securing interviews. I just found out that the NSBE is having a conference in Toronto which is 3 hour drive from where I live and might be a good idea to go.. However, I had a few questions and would appreciate it if you guys could answer them:

1) I am looking for a summer internship in banking/manufacturing but since this conference is being held in March end, do you think they will still be looking for summer interns?
2) I'm brown so while I could kinda mesh in the SHPE conference looks-wise, I'm not really sure if I'll stand out in the NSBE conference.. While standing out could be a good thing, would they look at it in a negative light that I'm "stealing" potential opportunities from black engineers or are they as laidback as they were in the SHPE conference?
3) Would you guys recommend I go considering I am not African American?

Thanks

 

[shortylickens]

I know for a fact at least one person here is a member. Maybe if you're lucky he will post and tell you about it.

For the life of me I cant remember his name or else I'd PM him.

 

[amdhunter]

An Indian trying to join a Black organization? That just seems wrong. How much do you weigh btw?

 

[MotF Bane]

There should be a National Society of White Engineers.

 

[BoomerD]

Try a search.

We DO have a working search feature nowadays.

 

[ShawnD1]

An Indian trying to join a Black organization? That just seems wrong. How much do you weigh btw?

He can totally pull it off if he wears the right makeup. When they question why he sound weird, just say he grew up as a black man in India. Black people from England sound English so I don't see why won't work.

 

[amdhunter]

He can totally pull it off if he wears the right makeup. When they question why he sound weird, just say he grew up as a black man in India. Black people from England sound English so I don't see why won't work.

I don't know. I just think it's wrong for an Indian man to think he is Black.

 

[txrandom]

I'm pretty sure the president of my university's National Society of Black Engineers is white or at least one was during my time here.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I don't know. I just think it's wrong for an Indian man to think he is Black.

Move to so cal, you'll start crying then

 

[Bignate603]

There should be a National Society of White Engineers.

That's pretty much every other engineering society out there. So far in my work experience the majority of engineers are white guys with a few asians thrown in there. Blacks, hispanics, and women are much less common. I work in aerospace so I guess other fields could be different but I'd say 95% or more of the engineers I work with are white or asian.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I don't know. I just think it's wrong for an Indian man to think he is Black.

The OP didn't suggest that he thinks he's black.

The OP does seem concerned that he might not be well received at a NSBE conference... and based on amdhunter's response, I think he's right.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

The OP didn't suggest that he thinks he's black.

The OP does seem concerned that he might not be well received at a NSBE conference... and based on amdhunter's response, I think he's right.

AMDhunter is indian

 

[Bignate603]

I'm pretty sure the president of my university's National Society of Black Engineers is white or at least one was during my time here.

When I was in school the society of women engineers had a few male members. Most of these minority societies aren't really trying to exclude people, they're just trying to promote people from that minority to start going into the field.

Career fairs put on by the different societies are usually open to everybody, typically they're running them as a fund raiser so the more people that show up the better. I was in an engineering honor society and we did career fairs once a year. It was opened to any engineer that wanted to come whether or not they were a member of our honor society.

 

[Rumpltzer]

That's pretty much every other engineering society out there. So far in my work experience the majority of engineers are white guys with a few asians thrown in there. Blacks, hispanics, and women are much less common. I work in aerospace so I guess other fields could be different but I'd say 95% or more of the engineers I work with are white or asian.

Is there a Society of Asian Engineers?

I work in aerospace, but not the middle-aged white guy part. I'm on the semiconductor side, and I've noticed that the semiconductor fab, device, and circuit design parts of my company are a lot more young people, a lot more Asians, and a lot more women that the parts of the company where systems are built.

In my building's population of ~80 engineers (we have dozens of buildings at this site), I'd say we're 25% women and 60% Asian. The same distribution is found in the middle management structure. In that population of ~80, I can think of only 2 black guys and no hispanics.

 

[UncleWai]

You can always sue them later if you don't like it.

 

[0roo0roo]

An Indian trying to join a Black organization? That just seems wrong. How much do you weigh btw?

no more wrong than a racist engineers organization is in the first place.

so go for it.

 

[Rumpltzer]

The OP didn't suggest that he thinks he's black.

The OP does seem concerned that he might not be well received at a NSBE conference... and based on amdhunter's response, I think he's right.

My mistake.

Based on B]amdhunter[/B]'s response, I think the OP should also be concerned that he might be ostracized by other Indians for attending a NSBE conference.


Again, the OP didn't suggest that he thinks he's black.

 

[TheStu]

I met the president of NSBE a few years back and he seemed quite laid back and easy going, but at the same time, it was evident by the presentation that he gave and the groups that he worked with while at my campus that NSBE's focus is on black students. Specifically male black students as their graduation rates have apparently slipped in recent years.

Really nice guy, HUGE hands though.

 

[Bignate603]

Is there a Society of Asian Engineers?

I work in aerospace, but not the middle-aged white guy part. I'm on the semiconductor side, and I've noticed that the semiconductor fab, device, and circuit design parts of my company are a lot more young people, a lot more Asians, and a lot more women that the parts of the company where systems are built.

In my building's population of ~80 engineers (we have dozens of buildings at this site), I'd say we're 25% women and 60% Asian. The same distribution is found in the middle management structure. In that population of ~80, I can think of only 2 black guys and no hispanics.

I work on the mechanical side of aerospace in turbine engines, most of the engineers are white or asian and are eligible for AARP. It's weird working where the majority of guys are older than my father and a few could be my grandfather.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I work on the mechanical side of aerospace in turbine engines, most of the engineers are white or asian and are eligible for AARP. It's weird working where the majority of guys are older than my father and a few could be my grandfather.

I was a student worker in aerospace, computer software side, but I was surrounded by aerospace and mechanical engineers. They would tell me that all of the people that built and/or know how certain parts work were either dead or retired. That is why they were moving away from the insanely complex mechanical devices towards digital circuits and software (also complex, but easier for the next generation to learn).

 

[RedCOMET]

Hey OP, I would go for it.

With this economy, you need to take advantage of every opportunity out there. And if the recruiter / career fair organizer is really that concerned with the color of your skin, then maybe you don't want to be working for the company or participating in that organizations career fair.

And, if you do attend, you would be suprised at the variation of skin color that you might see at the fair.

And passing yourself off as a black even tho you are brown, well, its not an original idea as seen by this wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_(racial_identity)

 

[jai6638]

Thanks for the responses! Do you guys think that they'd still be recruiting for summer internships considering it's gonna be in the last week of March?

 

[DaTT]

There should be a National Society of White Engineers.

We'd be called racists......same thing if we started a television network called WET.

 

[TecHNooB]

I don't know. I just think it's wrong for an Indian man to think he is Black.

Oh the ironing.

 

[BoomerD]

AMDhunter is indian

An Indian who thinks he's black...(looks at AMD's avatar)

We'd be called racists......same thing if we started a television network called WET.

That'd have to be a porn channel...