UCLA Engineering: CEED Hosts 21st Annual Scholarship Banquet

CEED Hosts 21st Annual Scholarship Banquet

Date: December 8, 2004
Contact: Marlys Amundson ( marlysa@support.ucla.edu )
Phone: (310) 206-0680

On Friday, November 19, over 130 engineering students, representatives from CEED’s Industry Advisory Board, and engineering faculty members attended the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity’s 21st annual Scholarship Banquet at the Le Meridien hotel in Los Angeles.

“The contributions of the Industry Advisory Board, other corporations and National Science Foundation allow CEED to address the underrepresentation of major population groups in the state’s technical workforce,” noted Enrique Ainsworth, director of CEED. “It is now clear that the increasing global competition for engineering talent is precipitating a national economic and security crisis. One salient solution is to ensure that underrepresented groups fully participate in engineering and science education, careers, and leadership. CEED’s effort is a small but significant approach to correct the imbalance between the future need and current output of engineers.”

Nearly $220,000 in scholarships were awarded to 76 engineering students; scholarships sponsored by Boeing, Chevron, Fluor Daniel, GM, HP, Lockheed Martin, Qualcomm, Raytheon, Verizon and Xerox, as well as the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Winston Doby, vice president of Educational Outreach for the UC system, was the keynote speaker, and he addressed the need for additional mathematics teachers, noting that math served as a critical element in many disciplines, including engineering. Doby urged the CEED scholarship recipients to give back to the community with their talent and knowledge by serving as teachers through corporate education K-12 programs. The message was well received by the students, who approached him for further information about such programs.

Teams of pre-college students from Webster Elementary and Monroe Middle School also received MESA Incentive Awards for their design of a multipurpose vehicle that was powered by a mousetrap. The teams were also required to submit a technical report and poster for their project.

Three members of industry were honored for their commitment to diversity in engineering through the Corporate Donor Recognition award. Arnold Hackett of Xerox, Josie Campbell of Verizon, and Enrique Baez of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were recognized for their efforts on behalf of CEED and its students.

Through CEED, UCLA Engineering supports a comprehensive K-20 approach to the development, recruitment, retention and graduation of engineering students from groups with traditionally low eligibility rates for the UC system.