Honoring, recognizing and celebrating the 30th Black Engineers of the Year Awards STEM Conference.

WHEREAS, Hosted by

US Black Engineer & Information Technology

magazine, The Council of HBCU Engineering Deans, and Lockheed Martin Corporation, the 30th Annual Black Engineers of the Year Awards (“BEYA”) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (“STEM”) Conference will take place on February 18-20, 2016 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and

WHEREAS

,

Conference events and presentations aim to address the inequities of diversity in technology and science as a means for increasing awareness, improving attitudes and expanding opportunities for the current and future workforce; and

WHEREAS, African American students are more than twice as likely to switch to other majors as are white and Asian American students; in 2006, just 5.2 percent of the engineering degrees awarded to U.S. citizens went to African Americans; and

WHEREAS, This event-packed three-day event unites more than 8,000 industry entrants and professionals including college representatives and leaders embodying the upper echelon in STEM for an agenda that will include training and networking opportunities, seminars and workshops and the conference’s popular career fair, which provides access to leading employers; and

WHEREAS, The winner of the 2016 BEYA Black Engineer of the Year Award is Christopher Jones, Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman’s Technical Services sector. Mr. Jones has provided his technical expertise and business acumen there since 2004, after leading flight testing, research and analysis innovative rotorcraft technologies at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, among other assignments; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Jones previously demonstrated scholastic excellence, earning a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology followed by master’s degrees in aerospace engineering and engineering management from the University of Dayton, then by a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,

That Council does hereby honor, recognize and celebrate the 30th Black Engineers of the Year Awards STEM Conference

.

FUTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to [name].

End