As Friday is the last day of the fall semester on many campuses, we thought this was a good time to showcase a few highlights at ABET-accredited historically Black colleges and universities.
Alabama A&M University has announced that Robert Holmes Jr. will deliver the Fall 2025 Commencement address on Friday, Dec. 12, at 10 a.m. in the AAMU Event Center. A 1970 graduate of AAMU with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical technology and mathematics, Holmes retired in 2010 as senior vice president at Alabama Power and chairman of the Alabama Power Foundation.
He also holds an engineering degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed executive programs at Harvard Business School, the University of Georgia, and the Center for Creative Leadership.
Recently, Morgan State University announced that the Human–AI eXperience Lab, in collaboration with the Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems, hosted the inaugural HBCU Brain Drone Race.
Through brain–computer interface technology, competitors controlled flight using brainwave activity, turning focus and concentration into movement.
The event highlighted the convergence of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and engineering, and showcased Morgan State's leadership in emerging research and innovation across historically Black colleges and universities.
In this competition, participants flew drones using only their minds.
This week, Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering announced that the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been officially renamed the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
This new name reflects their strengthened commitment to advancing aerospace research, education, and workforce development through our cutting-edge facilities, major grants, and expanded academic programs.
In November, Howard University's campus magazine reported that the Howard University Office of External Affairs collaborated with the College of Engineering and Architecture to facilitate a discussion with the theme, "Shaping the Future: AI, Tech Innovation, and the Next-Generation Workforce."
According to The Dig, the conversation was led by Talitha Washington, Ph.D., executive director for the Howard University Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics, and moderated by Nicholas Abram, CEA computer science junior and Karsh STEM scholar.
Washington, who received a STEM Innovator Award at the 2019 BEYA STEM Conference, was recognized for her efforts to advance research at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
During the fall semester 2025 conversation, Washington stressed the importance of the university's efforts to integrate AI education across disciplines, including new AI courses, an AI certificate program, as well as its partnerships with tech companies and other HBCUs on academic initiatives to enhance AI literacy, such as Amazon Web Services’ Machine Learning University Educator Bootcamp.