Increased Underrepresented Minority Student Engagement at the 43rd NOBCChE Annual Conference: Cultivating STEM Leadership to Solve Grand Challanges

该奖项支持100名本科生、研究生和博士后参加第43届全国黑人化学家和化学工程师专业发展组织（NOBCChE）会议，该会议于2016年11月8日至11日在北卡罗来纳州罗利举行。入选的参与者来自科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域代表性不足的少数群体。该奖项为参与者提供了四个主要关注领域的机会：1)技术和专业发展；2)与STEM领域的专业人士交流和指导的机会；3)接触STEM领域备受瞩目的少数族裔榜样；4)学术和专业STEM职业发展机会。学生参与者与来自工业界、政府和学术界的同行和专业人士互动，发展合作，并探索攻读化学或化学工程学科研究生学位的机会。这些机会不仅可以影响这些特定的参与者，还可以使STEM领域从业者的更大社区受益，因为这些活动有助于从代表性不足的人才库中招募和留住个人。NOBCChE旨在增加STEM劳动力中少数族裔的数量。对这项活动的结果进行评估，以便确定的最佳做法能够得到更广泛的采用。

This award supports the participation of 100 undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral students at the 43nd Annual National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) conference, held in Raleigh, NC on November 8-11, 2016. Selected participants are from underrepresented minority groups in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This award provides opportunities for participants to engage in four major areas of focus: 1) technical and professional development; 2) networking and mentorship opportunities with professionals working in STEM fields; 3) exposure to high-profile minority role models in STEM; and 4) academic and professional STEM career advancement opportunities. Student participants interact with peers and professionals from industry, government, and academia to develop collaborations and to explore opportunities to pursue graduate degrees in the chemistry or chemical engineering disciplines. These opportunities may not only impact these specific participating individuals, but also benefit the larger community of STEM field practitioners as these activities are useful in recruiting and retaining individuals from underrepresented talent pools. NOBCChE seeks to increase the number of minorities in the STEM workforce. Results of this activity are assessed so that the indentified best practices can be more widely adopted.