Golden Torch Awards

The National Society of Black Engineers honors the exemplary commitment to inclusion and diversity of the City of Los Angeles, California. On June 19, 2020, Eric Garcetti, then mayor of the city, signed Executive Directive No. 27, Racial Equity in City Government, to study and promote racial equity in City departments. The order required the establishment of a racial equity officer, racial equity committee and racial equity plan for each department. Targeted working groups grew out of the various committees, studies and racial equity plans, and provided support for the established Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Engineering Recruitment Committee, which was created in 2017 to help address the underrepresentation of African Americans within the City’s engineering classifications.

Corporate/education partnership is clearly a high priority for NSBE Board of Corporate Affiliates member bp. The company has an established employee mentoring and outreach STEM program that encourages employees and retirees to partner with local schools/programs to foster enhanced appreciation of, and engagement with, science, technology, engineering, and math. Through this outreach and one-on-one directed engagements, bp is able to tailor its programming and resources to provide focused support to embed an awareness and love of the STEM fields. This approach has also enabled the company to supplement the volunteer hours donated by the company’s people, through financial support from the bp foundation Employee Matching Fund.

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Erick N. Maxwell, Ph.D., P.E., is an expert in RF/microwave circuits and systems with more than 20 years of experience and several noteworthy contributions. For his doctoral research, he developed novel circuits, systems and methods for electromagnetically characterizing and quantifying isolated tumor cells, which resulted in a Best Dissertation Prize nomination. He has authored more than 20 publications, including six refereed papers; has spoken as a subject matter expert in more than 34 technical presentations, including nine invited talks and a keynote address; and has served as an expert reviewer for four IEEE/IET journals. He holds four U.S. patents and has delivered 36 products, including four that advanced the state of the art for electronic warfare receivers. Accordingly, he has received 24 professional awards that evidence his commitment to the practice, including an induction into the National Academy of Inventors.

Kyleni Rivers is a multilingual engineer and software developer with an unapologetic drive to bring up new STEM leaders who are women of color. A 2019 graduate of Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in computer engineering, Rivers maintained dean’s list status, completed two internships in the aerospace industry and became a member of the Eta Kappa Nu honor society during her time as an undergraduate. Looking beyond her own accomplishments, however, she taught mathematical, financial and computer programming classes to fellow classmates and others, in partnership with organizations, and discovered her passion for sharing her knowledge.

Ebenezer (“Eben”) Fanijo, Ph.D., P.E., has a stellar academic record, having earned a Bachelor of Science in building construction with first class honor from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria; a Master of Science in civil engineering with a 3.91 grade-point average from the University of Idaho; and a Master of Engineering in material science and engineering and doctorate in civil engineering from Virginia Tech, both with a perfect 4.0 GPA. After his most recent graduation, in December 2022, he moved to Georgia Tech to serve as a visiting assistant professor in the School of Building Construction. Dr. Fanijo has also achieved professional success, being a professional engineer and attaining more than five years of work experience in the construction sector.

Rashara Givhan’s interest in engineering began in 1979, when she was in grade school in her hometown of Somerville, Tennessee. She was selected to work with her school’s new Macintosh computer, completing tasks for the school principal. To satisfy her curiosity about STEM subjects, she began studying the encyclopedia. She graduated third in her class at Fayette-Ware Comprehensive High School. In addition to her interest in science and math, Dr. Givhan was heavily involved in sports. After high school, she received an academic and athletic scholarship to attend Tennessee State University, where she played basketball and found her love for engineering in a digital design course. She embarked on a co-op assignment with NASA in 1992, completed her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at TSU, while continuing to work at NASA, and left the space agency in 1995 to earn her Master of Science in Electrical Engineering at the University of Tennessee. She joined Lucent Technology in 1997 as an engineer, developing complex telecommunications systems in collaboration with global teams.

The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components and software and related services to consumers, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health, and education sectors.

From Birmingham, Alabama, by way of Memphis, Tennessee, Myracle La’nise Jarmon-Moore is a Bachelor of Science in computer engineering graduate of Howard University and a current electrical engineering Ph.D. student at Howard. Active in a number of campus organizations, she is a member of the Society of Women Engineers, the National Council of Negro Women, The Howard University Alabama Club and the National Society of Black Engineers, which she served as chapter chair for Academic Excellence from 2019–2021 and as co-Pre-College Initiative chapter chair from 2021–2022. She holds two NSBE leadership positions at present: Region II charter membership chair and Terror Zone coordinator. Outside of academics and professional development activities, Jarmon dedicates her free time to working with the youth through organizations including NSBE Jr., which she is serving as an educator and a mentor. Her plans include becoming an educator for Black youth, to be an advocate and support system for their continued education and success.

Courtney Johnson, a Jamaican-American native of Miami, Florida, is on a mission to cure diabetes. The 2017 graduate of Northeastern University in chemical engineering, and Ph.D. candidate in bioengineering at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), set that goal during his first year of high school, as he watched the illness ravage the health of his great-grandmother, Nora Tucker. In May 2009, Johnson founded an organization named Saving Nora, in her honor, to spread diabetes awareness among the youth of his community. Through his academic achievement and community service, he became a Gates Millennium Scholar, a President’s Call to Service award recipient and a Miami-Dade Silver Knight in Science.

Billy James is a cofounder of SEEDAfrique (Strategic Engineering Experience Drive Afrique) organization and the 2020-2021 Vice Chair of NSBE International Committee, African and Canada division. Ex – NSBE Ghana Administrative Secretary and Director of Programs. (August 2010 to Dec. 2021)

Nicole Vaughn is the Vice President of ExxonMobil Catalysts & Licensing, LLC. Nicole has more than 17 years of experience working in various companies with ExxonMobil. Most of her career has been working along the lubricants value chain, including product development as a formulator, R&D, and manufacturing support, formal management as the Commercial, Marine, Gas Engine, and Aviation Lubricants Section Head, and Basestocks & Specialties Global supply chain advisor. Currently, she leads the global commercial team responsible for catalysts and licensing sales for ExxonMobil’s refining and chemical technology, including the Xylene and Cumene technology offer.

Breanna Hutchison was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is the youngest of five children to Derrick and Tracy Hutchison. Breanna has also been an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers Jr chapter since she was in middle school. Breanna is committed to positively impacting her community, serving as President of her church’s Youth Department, and impacting the younger students in NSBE as a program assistant. She was awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Bronze Award for her services.

Tony Mason currently attends Phillip O Berry School of Technology. I am in the Computer Science Pathway at Phillip O Berry, where I have taken courses related to Computer Science and programming. I am certified in Microsoft Software Development and Word 2016 and PowerPoint 2016. I am bilingual in English and Spanish. My passion includes: getting a job as a programmer and focusing on cybersecurity as well. I want to be able to make secure programs for organizations to protect online users from malicious hackers in the world. Besides, being a programmer is good, but, to become even better, one should always program with security in mind. I have a passion for protecting users’ information.

Mr. Dickson Kwame Oduro is a competent Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana graduate. He studied Petrochemical Engineering and majored in the fields of Separation process, Kinetics Engineering, Polymer Engineering, fluid transport, and catalysis. Mr. Oduro is the President of the National society of black Engineers, KNUT Chapter. He has served as the vice president (2020-2021), academic excellence chair (2019-2020), and membership chair (2019-2020) of the chapter. During his tenure in office, he helped his chapter grow in numbers, organized academic programs, helped members in capacity building, and organized outreaches to give back to society.

Brian Jackson is a native of southeastern Arkansas, where he went on to obtain his undergraduate in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He went on to obtain his first Master’s degree in Quality System Management from The National Graduate School of Quality Management and recently completed his MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business school at the University of North Carolina.

Christopher is a proud HBCU Alum with a BS Mechanical Engineering Technology degree and a Commission Officer in US Army Air Defense Artillery Reserves. Before attending Prairie View A&M University, he was an Enlisted Non-Commissioned Officer (E5) in the Texas Army National Guard. His Honorable Tours of Duty service expanded in the Enlisted and Officer ranks over eight years. He has worked in the electrical industry for over 25 years for companies like Schneider Electric, General Electric, SIEMENS, ABB, and Eaton.

Professor at Valencia College since 2003 teaching various courses in Pre-Engineering, Mathematics, Quality Assurance and Test Methods, Engineering Management, Communications, and Ethics and Statistical Theory for Engineering Technology. I am also the advisor of two (2) engineering clubs at Valencia College – Florida Engineering Society and the National Society of Black Engineer. Over 25+ years of experience in both public and private sector consisting of Project Management, Leadership and Quality Assurance. Earned bachelor’s degree in design engineering, Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering with a concentration in Engineering Management and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida.