National Society of Black Engineers HQ

The Pre-College Initiative (PCI) program was implemented to promote engaging and sustainable interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to pre-collegiate students of all ages. Our program strives to decrease the gap by providing academic, technical and leadership development to our NSBE Jr members in preparation for college and later on in their professional careers. By offering various competitions, hands-on STEM activities, and programs to assist students in discovering how engineering and technology relates to the world around them, we as a National Society have been able to influence thousands of student across the nation to step outside of the traditional realm of careers and pursue their interest in cutting edge technologies that will positively impact the world as we know it.

Future City Competition is a national program that focuses on improving student's math, engineering, and science skills. The program is open to students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades who attend a public, private, or home school. The aim of Future City is to provide an exciting, educational engineering program for students. It combines a stimulating engineering challenge with an inquiry-based application to present the students’ vision of a city of the future.

Middle school students are tasked with imagining, designing, and building cities of the future. After designing a virtual city (using SimCity); researching, designing, and writing up their solution to a city-wide issue; and building a scale model of their city, teams present their vision to a panel of judges. NSBE’s Future City Competition takes place at the Annual Convention.

The Challenge is the ultimate wind energy learning experience for students. High school students around the country are exploring wind energy through the hands-on, investigative and exciting KidWind Challenge! When students participate in a KidWind Challenge, they will:

Discover the promise and limitations of wind energy technology
Design, build and test a functional creative wind turbine
Compete with their peers in a supportive environment

The MATHCOUNTS Competition is a fun and challenging math program designed for middle school students to increase their academic and professional opportunities.

The competition builds math skills, promotes logical thinking, and sharpens students’ analytical abilities. MATHCOUNTS motivates and rewards students by fostering teamwork and a competitive spirit. It involves students and teachers in year-long coaching sessions and helps students at all levels improve their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.

The Engineering Diversity Program succeeds the “Business Diversity” program. While the former program was designed to focus solely on entrepreneurship, Engineering Diversity focuses on career pathways and multi-industry penetration for the NSBE membership. It is vital that our members realize the usefulness of their acquired engineering skills in various industries. This spans traditional engineering careers, career title definition, and non-traditional engineering career pathways. Engineering Diversity focuses on resource development, enrichment, and experiential programs, which include supporting the Elevator Pitch, Fire Pit, and NSBE Debators Competitions. General programming on topics such as engineering to law, medicine, public policy, and education also falls within the purview of Engineering Diversity. problem.

In the wake of recent, tragic instances of injustice in the U.S., NSBE has launched an initiative that will help our members and prospective members become more knowledgeable about social justice.

R.I.S.E. is an acronym that stands for “Research and Development, Innovative Thinking, Social Emergence, and Excel before the pressure.”

This initiative will involve forums with law enforcement officials, lawyers, judges, etc., a chance to make a difference using technical skills for technological advancements; and opportunities to provide the tools needed to be successful in organizing different platforms. Under the umbrella of NSBE’s Technical OutReach and Community Help (TORCH) program, we expect to see our minoritized brothers and sisters be educated on their constitutional rights, ask the questions that are rarely answered elsewhere, give practical knowledge to apply to specific situations and, most important, be the change we aspire to see.

To meet this goal, we focus on freshman engineering enrollment, and degree completion, by offering scholarships and our signature NSBE Academic Retention Program.

The signature NSBE Academic Retention Program, which helps increase the success rate of engineering students through Technical and Professional Skills Workshops; Mentorship; Study Halls and Semester Check-Ins; and Mental Health Awareness, all conducted at the chapter level, is aimed at ensuring that students are academically and socially prepared to succeed in college.