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invited to the White House at a round table to talk about the
president’s investment in STEM with Dr. Holdren.
“I spoke to Dr. Holdren about
my concern that three billion dollars
is being invested in STEM this year,
which is an increase, but three billion
dollars for all of the schools and
universities across the country, the
HBCUs as well as the non-HBCUs,
is, in my opinion, not enough.
“When we look at our annual
budget for fiscal year ’16, which
Talib I. Karim, Howard
University, Mechanical
Engineering Grad, Executive
Director, STEM for Us
is four trillion dollars, three billion
equals 0.1 percent, and so unfortunately,
the president’s budget talked
about Hispanic-serving institutions,
but there was no mention at all about HBCUs.
“At my organization, which I’m happy to say has partnered
with the Howard University CX program, we’re focused on
STEM, but I really would have liked to have seen more HBCU
deans in that room.
“Two days before we were in a similar room with the National
Science Foundation in their education and human resource
working group talking about their specific investments, and
again, there were no HBCUs represented.
“My question is what more can we do to get you involved
in this conversation about policy in terms of the federal government’s
investment? For example, the chair or the ranking
member of the House Homeland Security Committee, which
funds billions of dollars at Homeland Security Technology, is
from Mississippi. It seems to me the private industry is always
lobbying Congress.”
Dr. Habib Mohamadian:
I want, towards the picture, for
Southern University to have a
part-time lobbyist in Washington,
D.C.
“We couldn’t afford a
full, but is there any way that
it could be a collaboration
and between your firm and
the lobbyist? I’m sure the rest
of the universities have some
sort of lobbyists.”
Talib Karim: I’m one
of the few so-called lobbyists
in D.C. that happen to also
have a mechanical engineering
degree, but there are a few
of us.”
Habib P. Mohamadian, Dean,
College of Engineering,
Southern University
America’s Talent Pool
Dr. Eugene Deloatch: “I’ve been in this business half a hundred
years, 50 years or more, and this group of students that we
have today is the most challenging. They’re the brightest, most
exposed, and we bore the hell out of them.
“Some of the brightest kids on the face of this earth are in inner
cities and capable of manning and womaning these jobs that
we have for the future.
“This is our talent pool, and we’re going to have to compete
globally.
“We praise the kids coming from China and India and everywhere
else. We’ve got some of the brightest kids in the inner
city in the United States that ever lived, and we just have to put
resources there, develop these minds, and then take our rightful
place in this global marketplace.
“I just want to say that because I believe it, I see it, and
I’ve gone through 50 years of students. John James is one of the
brightest students I’ve ever had.”
Chance Glenn began
his engineering career at the
Army Research Laboratory
in Adelphi, MD, where he
designed microwave and radio
frequency devices for a range
of defense-related applications.
He was also involved
in signal processing and the
study of nonlinear dynamical
systems. He then left the
Army Research Lab and
started Syncrodyne Systems
Dr. Glenn, dean of the College
of Engineering, Technology, and
Physical Sciences at Alabama
A&M University
Corporation with a colleague.
Syncrodyne Systems
patented the Syncrodyne
Amplifier, which is a highly
efficient power amplifier for
radio frequency communications.
In August 2012 Dr. Glenn was appointed dean of the College
of Engineering, Technology, and Physical Sciences at Alabama
A&M University. He is leading the college through its expansion
to prepare students and researchers to meet the global needs of
the 21st century.
He is also working with the faculty to develop programs in
engineering and applied science as Ph.D. programs and leading
efforts to collaborate with industry and other academic institutions
around the world to grow research in materials science,
image and signal processing, alternative energy, and other areas
of major global significance.
Dr. Chance Glenn: “Contracts are really the best way to do
business. The president submitted a four trillion dollar budget the
other day, and the money is in this area, and all you got to do is
come up maybe with a consortium. We already have a consortium.
How do you contact AMIE?
“A lot of my students, I should say 95 percent of them are
African American. I get a group of Hispanics now because of
where Alabama is, and we’re getting a great group of Caucasian
folks coming in. They’re all American citizens for the most part,
particularly undergraduates, because that’s what we really need.
We’re dealing with a national security issue related to MDA
(Missile Defense Agency) and CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
and the other NSAs (National Security Agencies).”
36 USBE&IT I FALL 2015 www.blackengineer.com