At the BEYA STEM Conference, more than 1,000 students participated in youth workshops supported by pre-college volunteers and BEYA ambassadors, including Nicolas Pollard.
Pollard, a Virginia State University student majoring in information technology and mechanical engineering, also serves as the national communications chair for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
During the conference, he discussed graduate school plans with Tremayne Waller, Ph.D., director of graduate student programs at Virginia Tech College of Engineering, whose work focuses on creating supportive environments for student success.
Pollard earned continuous learning credits from Morgan State University alongside an NSBE Chair who is a full-time engineer at Boeing Global Services.
He noted that the Technology Recognition Luncheon brought together leaders from academia, industry, and entrepreneurship, and emphasized that celebrating excellence highlights the importance of sustained impact and representation.
Pollard recognized Kiante Bush, technology manager at Accenture and the founding CEO of a startup launchpad for innovators at historically Black colleges and universities, high-performing technology teams, and entrepreneurial minorities.
He also interviewed Dr. Victor McCrary, chair of the National Science Board (NSB), about the Board’s impact on students and its role in aligning emerging talent with national security priorities and evolving industry needs.
Pollard concluded his day with a presentation by the AMIE Design Thinking team from Virginia State University, noting the team’s impressive growth over the past year.
A UX/UI designer and researcher recently shared their leadership experiences in the AMIE Design Challenge competition, particularly in navigating uncertainty.
Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering (AMIE) leads the AMIE Design Challenge, which is a signature program that highlights the innovative and technical expertise of students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in engineering.
According to AMIE's website, the Design Challenge tasks students with developing solutions to societal or industry problems using emerging technologies. These solutions aim to disrupt existing markets, create new opportunities, and address complex challenges.
A recent challenge focused on algorithmic and AI bias. Teams identified AI bias risks in specific industries and proposed solutions to mitigate or eliminate them. Problem statements and solutions addressed AI bias in areas such as college admissions, inclusivity in makeup tones, skin cancer diagnosis and detection, biostatistics datasets, loan approval processes, financial services, autonomous vehicle computer vision systems, healthcare, facial recognition systems, AI classroom coaching, and mental health.