What is BEYA?
BEYA, which stands for Black Engineer of the Year Award, is an annual conference and awards ceremony, that acknowledges the accomplishments of people of color in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math related (STEM) fields and also provides a “fair” or exhibition of sorts, of various STEM companies that are potential avenues of employment. In simple terms, the conference seeks to honor, inspire and produce opportunities in STEM fields, for it’s attendees. Each year, students across America, make their way to the location where the conference will be held.
Interactive MAp?
Since its existence, RRTN has attended 3 BEYA conferences, twice in Washington DC (2011 and 2012) and once in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2013). RRTN has taken over 200 students to the conference and several of them have had their BEYA experiences escalated into post-high school employment opportunities and internships. RRTN has also had the honor of having one of it’s college interns, Adriel Mingo, be the youngest member of what is known as the K-12 committee, one of the committees that helps to plan BEYA at a separate conference post-BEYA. RRTN CEO, Mr. Darian Hendricks, has himself been the recipient of an award for his efforts at RRTN, at BEYA 2012.
The BEYA conference typically runs across a span of 3 days.
The First day
While this is the arrivals and registration day at BEYA there are also a number of events that can be attended, dependent on one’s time of arrival. RRTN’s interns have managed to attend several seminars and they all typically attend the ‘Trailblazers and Emerald Honors dinner’, a formal award event that takes place in the evening. At this
The Second day
This is when the show really gets on the road. Typically a Friday, the entire day is dominated by back-to-back-to-back seminars of which you can pick and register for beforehand, and the Career fair, with breaks only for lunch. This is the day that you want to take the most advantage of. RRTN interns have sat in and participated in a host of interesting topics that concern people in STEM fields and also people of color in STEM fields.
From managing customers, to designing experiences for this day and age and the future, to motivating employees and your own self, there is something for everyone. The icing on the cake for this day is the Career Fair. This Fair is host to scores of STEM businesses and organizations that are looking for the next big innovator of star contributing team member. From Aerospace companies, to Government security companies, to Automobile companies, Robotic companies, even Walmart has had a presence there.
Be sure to grab hold of this opportunity to interface and interact with employees, with both hands! Be bold, share how awesome you are and the great things you’ve done. Be clear, be courteous, have your business cards and resumes in check. RRTN’s interns have historically been commended for being all of the above, and thus a number of our interns have nabbed internship and potential employment opportunities. The second day ends with a number of award dinners and ceremonies and ultimately concludes with the ‘Stars and Stripes’ dinner, a black tie affair.
