Iowa State’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) was selected to be the host chapter for next fall’s NSBE regional conference.

The conference, which will bring about 600 NSBE members to the ISU campus, will give the organization needed publicity, said Geovanti Steward, junior in business and chairman of NSBE.

“Having the conference here will bring awareness to what we think is a great resource for students,” Steward said.

Regional conferences are held in the spring and fall, and a national one is held in the spring, Steward said.

The conferences are not only for college students but also for alumni and high school students.

Each group will have its own specialized sessions, and the large group will have keynote speakers, tours and social activities, said Richard Freeman, faculty adviser for NSBE and electrical and computer engineering adjunct instructor.

The conference also will have a career fair and a graduate school fair, Freeman said.

Students attending the conference will have the opportunity to network with practicing engineers and industry representatives associated with NSBE, Freeman said.

“It gives them tremendous opportunities,” he said.

Geovanti said ISU’s NSBE chapter was selected as a conference site because it is a steadily growing chapter.

The local NSBE chapter went from seven members in 1998 to 42 this year, he said.

Freeman said this increase is due to the cooperation of students, ISU and the city, as well as student leadership.

“It’s students talking to students and getting them involved,” he said.

The society does much more than talk, Freeman said.

“We’re trying to build a strong academic, professional and community-based organization,” he said.

Steward said all students who are interested in academics, professionalism and working together are welcome to join the society, which originally provided African-American engineering students with a support group.

Freeman said he wished he would have had a similar resource when he was an undergraduate at ISU.

“I didn’t have a support group like I really needed to have, and that’s my own fault,” Freeman said.

For this reason, he was eager to be the adviser for a society that would support students, he said.

Individuals interested in NSBE can contact Steward via e-mail at [email protected].