mites alumni news online. The electronic newsletter of the MIT minority ingroduction to dgineering, entrepreneurship and science progra. The MIT mites program is dedicated to increasing the representation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in the fields of engineering, entrepreneurship and science. the mission of mites is to introduce acdemicall promising high school juniors to the challenges and rewards of pursuing advanced technical careers.

Spring 2000

MITE2S: Filling the Pipeline

Celebrating A Quarter Century of Achievement

We are excited about this our 25th anniversary of the MITE2S Program. The 150-200 attendees of the 25th Anniversary Celebration will come together for two days, kicking off with the annual Design Contest on Friday afternoon, July 14. They will hear from MITE2S alumni, sponsors and other distinguished guests about how they overcame obstacles to succeed in science and engineering.

The Friday evening banquet will feature an “other-worldly” keynote address by Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz Ph.D. '77, a distinguished NASA astronaut and an MIT alumnus.

Two Saturday morning panel discussions comprising accomplished MITE2S alumni will be followed by a luncheon keynote by Reginald Van Lee '79, a partner at the consulting firm Booz, Allen and Hamilton in New York City and chairperson of the Black Alumni/ae of MIT (BAMIT).

The celebration will be punctuated by an inspirational keynote speech at the Anniversary Banquet by Dr. Sandra Begay-Campbell, Executive Director, American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). During the Saturday evening banquet we will also premier the new MITE2S recruitment video, “Opportunity Seized; Success Earned.” In a few words, we are expecting an informative and inspirational weekend.

As a MITE2S alumnus, sponsor or special guest, we invite you to join us this summer as we inspire another class of future scientists and engineers who will be poised to meet society's needs through their leadership. To register for the conference, go to http://web.mit.edu/mites/www.

Yesterday and Today

MITE2S, and pre-college programs like it, are key to the mosaic of national efforts designed to increase the representation of minorities in science, math and engineering (SME).

Twenty-five years ago, when the program was launched, a mere 4.3%, or 9,364 of just under 218,000 undergraduate engineering students were African American, Native American and Latino. Only 4.8% of all bachelors degrees, and 2.1% and 1.5% of all masters and PhD's respectively were awarded to these ethnic minorities in 19751.

Today (1998-99), the numbers have improved thanks to concerted efforts of our government, industry, and institutions of higher learning such as MIT, but are still significantly lower than the percentage of these ethnic minorities in the general population. Though African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans comprise 23% of the US population and 21% of college enrollment2, these ethnic minorities represent only 15.6% of undergraduate engineering student enrollees. Moreover, only 12.1% of the bachelors degrees, 5.7% of the masters, and 3.8% of PhD's in engineering were awarded to these people of color in 1999.

“Affirming the Action”

MIT has made a major commitment toward increasing the numbers of these ethnic minorities enrolled in, and prepared for leadership in SME, bucking the tide of anti-affirmative action efforts sweeping regions of this country. According to Thomas Magnanti, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering, “This institution and this profession must embrace racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. Indeed, it is the best, the only means to assure that MIT will evoke the same magical images for our children and our children's children as it does for us.”

More than the right thing to do, fully tapping every group to fulfill the insatiable demand for high-tech talent is absolutely essential for the future health of this country and our world. Diseases need to be cured, new environmentally safe materials need to be developed, and cheaper, more ubiquitous ways to broaden educational access through information technology must be discovered. Every stakeholder in the future of this great country (industry, educators, politicians, parents, churches, etc.) must join hands to “affirm the action” of increasing the representation of all groups—especially ethnic minorities—in SME fields. According to the NSF, America must increase “the percentages of science and engineering graduates who progress through the educational system...given our heightened reliance on a technological workforce to maintain our leadership in a world economy.” One way to start is to increase the flow of qualified young people who enter the SME pipeline.

Cultivating the Future

With MITE2S, we take seriously the responsibility to fill the pipeline by cultivating these talented young people in whom their parents, teachers, counselors and ministers have invested. Each summer, we prune, fertilize and occasionally re-pot the participants, then watch them bloom—some right away, others months after returning home. Participating in this process perennially, hearing about their subsequent accomplishments and reading the letters and e-mails compels us to do more each year to broaden our impact on the future.

In years to come, by enlarging the summer program, replicating our success, and introducing initiatives for Boston-area youth during the academic year, we hope to leverage our quarter century-old winning record, and combine it with the brilliance and innovation that characterizes this great institution to reach many more young people.

1Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies, Inc.

2 “Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 1998.” NSF, February 1999

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MITE2S Alum Wins McNair Award

Stephanie Espy (MIT '01, chemical engineering; MITE2S '96) received the Ronald E. McNair Scholarship Award at the 2000 MIT Awards Convocation.

The Ronald E. McNair Scholarship Award recognizes a Black undergraduate who has demonstrated strong academic performance and who has made a considerable contribution to the minority community. The Black Alumni/ae of MIT established this award in honor of Ronald McNair (Ph.D. '77), physicist and astronaut, well known for his involvement in the MIT and surrounding community. He died in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

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NSBE Elects MITE2S Alums

Dionna Alexander (MIT '02, management and electrical engineering, MITE2S '97) was elected Chairperson of the New England Zone of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Publications Chair of Region 1 at the 2000 National Conference. Two MITE2S alumni are among the newly-elected officers of the MIT chapter of NSBE . Leonard Grant (MIT '02, material science and engineering; MITE2S '97) was elected Chairperson. Kedra Newsom (MIT'02, computer science and engineering; MITE2S '97) will serve as Secretary.

 

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Profile: MITE2S Class of 2000

Out of a pool of 599 applicants, 62 students (31 females and 31 males) will be attending the MITE2S 2000 summer session. Among the participants will be 34 African Americans, 16 Mexican Americans, 3 Native Americans, 3 Puerto Ricans and 6 from other Hispanic groups. These U.S. citizens and resident aliens come from 26 states and Germany. A committee of 24 MIT faculty, students, MITE2S instructors and MIT administrators (including MIT admissions officers) selected these MITE2S attendees based on their high school grades, standardized test (PSAT or SAT) scores, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, written essays, and teacher recommendations.

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Award-winning Grad Student Teaching Design

When Amy Smith teaches the Engineering Design Course during MITE2S 2000, she will be speaking from experience. Ms. Smith is committed to using technology to help solve problems in developing countries, especially those in Africa. Her focus on technology transfer to developing countries has resulted in a number of inventions, innovations, and awards. As she shared in an interview with the MIT Tech Talk (February 9, 2000), “Necessity is the mother of invention, but it has often struck me that the most needy are often the least empowered to invent.”

Her Phase-Change Incubator won the 1999 B.F. Goodrich Collegiate Inventors award of $7,500 and the 2000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize of $30,000. Ms. Smith is the first female to win the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, which is awarded each year to an MIT student who demonstrates remarkable inventiveness and who serves as an inspiring science and technology role model for young Americans.

The Phase-Change Incubator uses a material for heating and temperature maintenance and does not require electricity nor rely on delicate instruments such as thermostats or electronic controls. The device is practical, low maintenance, and low cost— a definite necessity for remote areas.

She also invented a microscope slide warmer, based on the same phase-change technology, to prepare slides for rapid tuberculosis diagnosis. She is developing a refrigerator for vaccines based on the same technology.

Ms. Smith also invented a grain mill, adapted for rural areas of developing countries where women traditionally spend up to four hours a day grinding grain by hand. The mill was created at one-fourth the cost of conventional mills, uses less energy, requires low maintenance and produces a superior product.

Ms. Smith earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1984. She then spent four years in Botswana as a Peace Corps volunteer. She earned her first master's degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1995. She plans to finish her second master's degree in the MIT Technology and Policy Program in 2001. Visit http://www.mit.edu/people/mmadinot/home.html to learn more about this extraordinary individual.

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Funding the Future

We wish to thank the following corporations, foundations, and individuals who have provided major support for the MITE2S 2000 summer session (as of this issue):

  • 3M
  • Bell Atlantic Foundation
  • BP AMOCO Foundation
  • Citigroup Foundation
  • Norman Doelling '53
  • Joe Chung '89
  • The Ford Motor Company Fund
  • General Motors Foundation
  • Mr. & Mrs. Alfonso Gonzalez
  • The Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
  • Ronald A. Kurtz '54
  • Lucent Technologies Foundation
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Merck & Company
  • Merrill Lynch
  • Progress Software Corporation
  • Texaco
  • Raytheon Corporation
  • Reginald Van Lee '79

We also wish to thank the many individuals who contribute to the William H. Ramsey '51 Fund to help ensure the long-term stability of the program.

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Major Life Changes: Please Update Your Profile

Many of you having taken the time to let us know how your post-MITE2S life is going. Thank you. We would like to keep your information accurate, so if you made major life changes, please take a few moments to update your profile. You can also check the accuracy of your e-mail link.

Are you still in touch with other MITE2S alums? Let them know that they can update their address and other information by visiting the MITE2S web site <http://web.mit.edu/mites/www> and using the Alumni Locator.

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Last updated: 16 November 2000