Student Leadership

Clifton Sean Martin
Electrical Engineering Student
Morgan State University

By Garland L. Thompson

Some people start "giving back" to their communities even before getting out of college. Clifton Sean Martin participated as a tenth-grader in the Engineering Coalition of Schools for Excellence in Education and Leadership (ECSEL), administered by Morgan State University's School of Engineering. This program, a model for college-preparatory enrichment courses in science, engineering, and math for youth in troubled, inner-city neighborhoods, qualified Martin for Morgan's Summer Bridge Program, after which he enrolled in the university as a freshman.

Martin, an ECSEL graduate, knew the value of the extra support he received. So, he became an ECSEL Student Leader, devoting his time to mentoring and tutoring students at his alma mater, Baltimore's Southwestern High School. For the last two years, Martin also has served as student director of Morgan's "Saturday Academy," under which technology students provide outreach services to local high-school students. Its initial objectives were to introduce engineering design concepts to inner-city students, but Martin changed the format to focus on a student's academic goals.

Under Martin's leadership, the Saturday Academy grew to include an additional satellite program, the MSU-Payne Memorial Saturday Academy. But he did not stop there. He is co-coordinator of the Calculus Study Program, a charter member of the AMIE (Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering) tutoring program, and a student coordinator of Morgan's Office of Community Service. He is a student board member of the Baltimore Mentoring Partnership Higher Education Committee.

Martin also participates in the NASA/Pre-Freshman Accelerated Curriculum in Engineering (PACE) program, serving as assistant director, in 1999, and director this year. He is active in the student chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, is president of the Engineering Student Organization Council, and is active in the student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 

Martin also is a member of the Center of Microwave, Satellite & Radio Frequency Engineering (COMSARE), one of Morgan's premier research and development centers. Members, under faculty direction, conduct innovative research on applications in satellite communications. Martin's work included performing computer modeling of microwave/millimeter wave semiconductor devices, and he also helps to train new COMSARE associates. He graduates in May 2001 and plans to enroll in Morgan's Ph.D. program in electrical and computer engineering.

Garland L. Thompson is assistant managing editor of The Philadelphia Tribune and a member of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Selection Panel. He can be reached at GThompson@ccgmag.com.