Student Projects
Fueling Professional Growth: Northwestern National Society of Black Engineers at the Fall Regional Conference - 2025

NSBE students

Project Manager

ND Nwaneri, National Society of Black Engineers - Northwestern Chapter 

Amount Requested

$5,000

Summary

Our project seeks to fund travel and registration for members of the Northwestern University chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) to attend the Fall Regional Conference (FRC) in Cleveland, a high-impact event designed to foster the academic, professional, and personal development of Black engineering students.

At its core, FRC provides a culturally affirming space where students who are often underrepresented in STEM can thrive. Participants attend career readiness workshops, technical skill-building sessions, leadership training, and a regional Tech Bowl competition. Most importantly, they have access to one of the largest career fairs for Black engineers, where they engage in resume reviews, mock and real interviews, and hospitality suites hosted by top-tier companies actively seeking diverse talent.

This grant is crucial because, without it, half of the students who could benefit from this opportunity would be unable to attend. For many, especially first-year students, this will be their first exposure to a professional engineering environment, their first career fair, and their first time seeing what’s possible beyond the classroom. The impact is immediate: students gain internships, mentorship, and a clear sense of belonging in engineering. NSBE members return to campus energized, more engaged in their academics, and more confident in their professional path.

By investing in this experience, we invest in the long-term success of Black engineers at Northwestern. We strengthen retention in STEM, build leadership pipelines, and cultivate a community of students who are not just succeeding but lifting others as they rise.

Planned Activities/Investments

To meet our objectives and ensure transformative outcomes, we plan to send members of the Northwestern NSBE chapter to the FRC in Cleveland, a multi-day experience that empowers Black engineering students.

Students will actively participate in a range of sessions tailored to their development. In technical workshops, they won’t just listen; they’ll engage in problem-solving activities, coding labs, and design challenges led by industry professionals. These sessions often simulate real-world engineering scenarios, allowing students to test their skills and receive direct feedback.

Leadership development sessions are interactive by design. Students will engage in small-group discussions, mock decision-making exercises, and collaborative team challenges. These moments help participants understand their leadership styles and apply new strategies in real time — skills they bring back to lead campus organizations and project teams.

The professional development track goes beyond resume tips. Students participate in mock interviews with real recruiters, receive one-on-one resume reviews, and attend company-sponsored hospitality suites. These suites offer informal yet high-value interactions where students can ask about company culture, internship pipelines, and day-to-day responsibilities. They’ll leave with LinkedIn connections, business cards, and next steps for formal opportunities.

The career fair is highly structured: students research target companies beforehand, sign up for specific interviews, and come prepared with tailored pitches. For many, it will be their first time presenting themselves professionally in a high-stakes setting, and often, it results in interview callbacks, internships, and mentorship relationships.

This isn’t passive learning. It’s active participation that launches careers and builds leaders.

Impact

Attending the FRC will have a significant impact on the undergraduate members of our NSBE chapter by advancing both their professional and personal development.

Professionally, students benefit from direct engagement with recruiters and engineers at the FRC career fair, mock interview booths, and hospitality suites, spaces where real conversations often turn into real opportunities. In past years, several of our members have received internships at top firms directly because of connections made at FRC. These students then return to campus empowered to refer and mentor others, helping build a stronger support pipeline within our own community. This peer-to-peer impact multiplies the value of a single student’s success.

Personally, the impact is just as profound. FRC pushes students out of their comfort zones, whether by practicing their elevator pitch for the first time, asking questions in a leadership session, or navigating a new city with peers. Many students enter FRC shy, uncertain, and unsure of where they belong in the engineering world. They leave with confidence, new friendships, and a clear vision of what’s possible. Last year, one of our first-year members arrived feeling like they had nothing to offer recruiters. By the end of the weekend, they had nailed their mock interview, secured two real ones, and joined our leadership team the following quarter.

To measure impact, we will use both pre- and post-conference surveys that capture changes in confidence, professional preparedness, and sense of community. We’ll ask students to reflect on their goals beforehand and assess how those changed through interviews, surveys, and small group debriefs. We will also track concrete outcomes such as internships, job interviews, and referral opportunities.

Deliverables

The major deliverables of this project focus on measurable student development, chapter growth, and community impact.

  • Professional Outcomes: We aim for at least 10 students to secure internship interviews and 3 – 5 students to receive internship or job offers as a direct result of their participation in the FRC career fair, mock interviews, and networking sessions. We will track these outcomes through post-conference surveys and follow-ups over the academic year.
  • Skill Development: Every attendee will participate in at least one technical workshop and one leadership or professional development session. Students will leave with updated resumes, refined elevator pitches, and improved interviewing and networking skills. We will document these gains through pre- and post-conference self-assessments.
  • Community Engagement: Students will build deeper connections within the chapter through shared travel, lodging, and conference events. We expect a noticeable increase in engagement after the conference, such as increased event participation, first-years running for board positions, and more third- and fourth-year students mentoring peers. We will measure these outcomes through event attendance, mentorship sign-ups, and member feedback.
  • Chapter Pipeline Growth: Students who attend FRC will be expected to present a short reflection or workshop back on campus, sharing what they learned with those who couldn’t attend. This creates a sustainable feedback loop that strengthens the entire organization.
  • Confidence and Belonging: Through both quantitative surveys and qualitative reflections, we expect students to report increased confidence navigating professional spaces and a stronger sense of belonging in engineering. These outcomes are critical for long-term retention and success.

Each of these deliverables directly contributes to our mission of cultivating Black engineering excellence and expanding opportunities within our Northwestern community.

Sustainability

The funding provided by the Murphy grant will be used exclusively to support our chapter’s attendance at this year’s FRC, maximizing access and impact for as many students as possible. While this specific request is designed as a one-time investment, the professional development opportunities it supports are part of an ongoing commitment by our chapter.

To sustain attendance at FRC in future years, we plan to leverage a combination of University resources, corporate engagement, and strategic relationship-building. Many of the companies that attend FRC, including sponsors of the career fair and hospitality suites, actively support diversity-focused student organizations. By building connections at this year’s conference, our members can initiate conversations that may lead to future sponsorships, speaking engagements, or campus partnerships. We also plan to explore applicable university funding streams that align with student leadership development, equity in STEM, and career preparation.

Additionally, we believe in the power of investing in people. When students secure internships or full-time roles through conferences like FRC, they often return with a desire to give back, whether through sharing their own experiences, guidance through a multitude of fields, or overall engagement in our community. Over time, this builds a culture of sustainability rooted in community uplift and opportunity sharing.

Though the Murphy grant is not a recurring source, this year’s investment will help strengthen our foundation for long-term growth and support for future NSBE members.

 

Budget Overview

  • Food ($12 x 45 people x 1 meal) = $540
  • Admission ($125 x 20 additional people) = $2500
  • Bus ($150 x 11 hours) = $1650
  • Miscellaneous = $310

Total Budget Amount: $5,000

Faculty Adviser/Department

Ellen Worsdall/Assistant Dean for Student Affairs