Welcome
As the Chair of the 5th Annual Strategic Planning and Research Conference (SPRC), I would like to welcome you to the Bayou City of Houston, Texas. Welcome to a weekend of Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Community Impact. Welcome to a weekend that could possibly change your career …
What is SPRC?
Every year I am amazed to hear about the accomplishments of African Americans in Technology today. This is why SPRC is a one-of-a-kind NSBE program, in that it was developed to showcase the technical accomplishments of African-Americans, especially NSBE Alumni members. It is critical to NSBE that we utilize platforms such as SPRC to keep our members abreast of concepts and technologies that are considered "cutting-edge" in engineering industries of today. Our goal is to also encourage our members to be creative, innovative, and to take the extra step of using their technical talents to pursue research opportunities and/or to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors in their particular engineering disciplines. Our goal is for NSBE-AE members to be leaders in their respective engineering fields.
Why should you attend SPRC?
SPRC is an exciting combination of technology, leadership and entrepreneurship workshops. This is an excellent opportunity to network with technical professionals, gain exposure for your business/company, and learn something new about your industry. At SPRC you should meet people that can influence your career to new heights. We have even added a conference bonus on MLK Day where Houston professionals will present workshops for the Houston community on Finance, Education, Health, and Science and Technology for the "non-technical" community.
What to expect this year at SPRC
Here are some possible conference highlights:
- Learn more about NSBE Special Interest Groups (SIGs):
Aerospace, Automotive, Bioengineering, Energy, Environmental, Human Factors, Information Technology, Microelectronics, Petroleum, Space, Transportation, Wireless, Women in Science and Engineering (SIG)
- 30 hours of Technical Workshops. Last year we had presentations given by representatives from companies including: BP, Chevron, NASA, Freescale, URS, Lockheed Martin, Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority, Boeing, Raytheon, Jacobs, Qualcomm, Honeywell, and others
- Entrepreneurship Workshops - One-on-One Entrepreneurship Counseling
- Leadership Workshops
- Houston Nightlife - activities planned for every night
- Networking opportunities
- Community Outreach - Last year Raytheon Sponsored the Design Competition for High School students
- Community Impact - Last year Shell Sponsored the Rain Garden construction at Alief ISD Elsik High School for flood prevention and pollution prevention
- Golf Outing - Networking and Training
As always, we also extend a warm welcome to all our colleagues in the industry who share our interest in increasing the number of African Americans in Technology.
Sincerely,
Nichole McCown
2009 Strategic Planning and Research Conference Chair
