Thanks to a dedicated group of student leaders, Black-identifying members of U of T Engineering’s graduate student community now have more avenues for support and mentorship than ever before.
Though it officially formed in 2024, the genesis of U of T’s NSBE Graduate Student Chapter dates back to the spring of 2023. That’s when ECE PhD candidate Mai Ali travelled to Kansas City, Mo., to attend the Annual Convention of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
The yearly event brings together thousands of Black-identifying attendees to network among aspiring and professional engineers, pursue development opportunities and participate in competitions and career fairs.
“I was amazed by the community and the opportunities that were available, but I noticed that many events were geared towards undergraduate NSBE chapters,” says Ali, whose trip was sponsored by U of T Engineering’s office of the Vice-Dean, Graduate.
“I realized that Black graduate students need a place where we can meet, discuss our research and celebrate our achievements.”
When Ali returned to Toronto, she got to work establishing a graduate student chapter of NSBE at U of T with the support of the faculty’s Vice Dean, Graduate office.
She reached out to fellow Black engineering graduate students to gauge interest in forming the new group. The response was positive, and a call was made to form the executive committee, which first met in April 2024. The National Society of Black Engineers was founded in 1975 to promote and support the professional development and academic achievement of students pursing various engineering disciplines.
50 years later, there are more than 600 student chapters around the world with a mission to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who can succeed professionally and positively impact their communities. U of T has been home to an undergraduate chapter of NSBE since 1999.
“One of our goals with the grad chapter is to increase the representation of Black students in engineering programs, whether it’s a graduate or undergrad program,” says Ali, who leads the chapter as president.
“We do this through high school outreach and undergraduate mentorship.”
“NSBE Grad is all about inclusivity,” says Caleb Okechukwu (MIE MEng student), the executive secretary of the organization. “We welcome the experiences of all individuals — not only Black students — whose ideologies align with our mission.”
NSBE Grad has worked with Engineering Outreach’s Blueprint program, BrainSTEM Alliance and has helped undergraduate students gain positive research experience through its Research Connect initiative.
The community is also a place for peers to socialize in a supportive environment where they can share their wins, challenges and their engineering expertise.
“This is a family of Black people that members can count on for support and advice for both academic and financial matters,” says Bethel Unwan (MIE MEng student), vice-president of NSBE Grad.
“I had a very hard time getting support and wouldn’t want anyone to go through the same.”
Ali says that as a Black researcher, she feels a heightened sense of responsibility.Her PhD research, supervised by Professor Deepa Kundur (ECE), focuses on using multi-task machine learning to predict mental health comorbidities in youth.
Traditional machine learning models directed towards mental health conditions often use single-task learning, which requires separate models for different tasks. This means conditions and symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleep disruption or suicidal ideation are predicted in isolation rather than as multiple outputs at once.
“Mental health disorders are often comorbid, meaning that if you have any one of them, you may have a concentration of others,” says Ali. “If we are able to diagnose the full profile of the mental health disorders a person has, then interventions and treatment outcomes could be improved.”
“There is a lot of bias in machine learning models that are directed towards underrepresented communities, including Black youth,” she says. “More representation across all communities is necessary to both acknowledge and reduce this bias.
“But to increase representation, it’s important for Black undergraduate students and early-career researchers to have support from role models that understand their perspective in the profession. I have been fortunate to have that support in my academic career, especially now with my PhD supervisor, but I know others might not have that same experience.”
“Black undergraduate students who are interested in research should take advantage of NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards,” says Reke Ferdinand Avikpe (BME PhD candidate), treasurer of NSBE Grad.
“Don’t be afraid to reach out and engage with professors to find volunteer opportunities in their labs. I always encourage students to start early, from second and third year, and explore different lab opportunities until you find the research you enjoy most.”
In March, five members of NSBE Grad will be travelling to Chicago to participate in the 50th anniversary of NSBE at the 2025 annual convention.
“We are not only a new chapter but the only graduate student chapter in Canada, so it’s important for us to make a positive impression at the convention,” says Ali.
“So many people have been involved in getting our organization to this point, including all members of our executive committee; our advisor, Professor Philip Asare (ISTEP, EngSci); my PhD supervisor, Professor Kundur; and the faculty’s Vice Dean, Graduate office.”
By Safa Jinje
This story originally published by Engineering News