Julian Ramirez-Simon won the 2025 BEYA AMIE Design and Thinking Challenge. On LinkedIn, he shared his recent experience attending IEEE SoutheastCon with the Virginia State University IEEE branch.
The VSU team participated in several competitions, where he led the circuits team to achieve 5th place out of 39 teams.
The event taught Julian valuable leadership skills, including managing and developing the talents of four engineering students. Through practice sessions, he identified each member’s strengths, built trust, and delegated tasks effectively under pressure.
He also enjoyed completing a 4-mile circuit simulating a water pump monitoring system for rocket launches. The team incorporated fail-safe systems to protect components and displayed real-time data using a liquid-crystal display and LED indicators, with thorough documentation at each step.
Ramirez-Simon acknowledged his teammates: Kwabena E. Amoako, Akon Enabulele, Christian Philpot, and Joseph Logan, II.
Last month, Logan, a VSU Honors College student majoring in control engineering, artificial intelligence, and robotics, attended the 40th Anniversary BEYA STEM Conference in Baltimore.
He found the event inspiring and motivating, surrounded by accomplished engineers, students, and industry professionals. Logan expressed gratitude for the connections, insights, and opportunities gained and looks forward to applying his new knowledge as he advances in engineering.
Both Ramirez-Simon and Logan are collegiate members of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).