In a world with diversity efforts being rolled back because of a rise in conservative pushback, Amazon launched its weeklong Drone Academy at Howard University to promote diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Oluwafemi “Femi” Oladosu, a doctoral student at Howard University with more than 10 years of engineering experience, said he enjoys knowing he can be a part of the solution in getting more Black representation in STEM fields.
“I know that if I’m there, then we can get more people in, and with more people coming in, then we can, hopefully, be able to support each other and just pull each other through,” he told The Washington Informer.
Oladosu explained how the robotics program helps students understand how a drone is pieced together before it is operational.
“Sometimes, you see a drone, and it’s fully completed, and it’s working but here they got to engage with the drone to the build-up of the drone,” he said. “It also helps to teach them the mechanics of it: how everything comes together, how the different parts play an important role in the build-up of the drone.”
According to research from Columbia University on implicit bias in STEM, minorities feel unwelcomed and exit the field at disproportionate rates.
Harry Keeling, an associate professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Howard University, said one of his many goals as a practitioner is to work with students “to address their imposter syndrome of them feeling that they’re not qualified due to personal struggles.”
“They’re working with people that they can identify with [such as] people of color,” Keeling said of the students.
Keeling told The Informer that as a student growing up in Southeast D.C., access to educational opportunities was not always easy.
“When I was at Georgetown [University], some Jesuit priest took me under his wings, and he convinced me that I was capable and qualified and that is what I’m trying to do for these young people,” Keeling explained.
According to 17-year-old Igbekeleoluwaladun Daniels, a high schooler at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Princes George’s County, Maryland, who is also dually enrolled at Prince George’s Community College, this opportunity will set him up for his future.
“I believe that it would look good on my resume, and I’m really interested in creating algorithms and software for drones to help them detect things like hostility and work with companies like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin or Boeing,” he told The Informer.
Knocking Down the Doors for STEM Opportunities
Skylar Spratt, a 16-year-old high school student from Kenwood Academy in Chicago, flew into Washington to attend the Drone Academy meant for D.C.-area students.
While she lacked funding for lodging and travel, according to Keeling, Howard is her top choice school and was determined to attend.
Keeling said the teen’s ambition to come across the country without funding for housing and travel inspired him to let her into the course despite the program already being at capacity.
Skylar’s ambition comes from her dad, who she said advocated for her participation in a tech program in the past.
“I originally participated in this program called Tech Girls when I was 6 years old, which I wasn’t supposed to do because it was for girls [ages] 9 and up, but my dad really pushed the people in charge of the program, ‘I want my daughter to be a part of this,'” Skylar explained.
Partnering for Future Solutions
Amanda Rodrigues Smith, the senior manager of University, Outreach and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives at Amazon, Fulfillment, Technologies and Robotics, said Howard University is a strategic partner for the program.
“[Howard is] closest to the solution and the outreach and they’re a more sustainable partner to high schools in the region to be able to foster an open door for students to be able to learn within their communities,” Rodrigues Smith told The Informer.
After Howard, Amazon’s next stop is Hampton University, another HBCU where they will continue the Drone Academy work from July 8-12. According to Rodrigues Smith, Amazon also plans to create a degree program at Hampton.
Other than resources and touring, Rodrigues Smith also explained how Amazon contributes to helping the program thrive.
“Amazon then has an opportunity to bring the power of our innovation team, including our employees, who have been in the shoes of students, at all of these levels to come in as mentors,” she added.
Kevin Smith, a STEM program manager with Mass Robotics, partnered with Amazon to bring a “dynamic experience” to the university, calling it a “one-of-a-kind” opportunity to help diversify the STEM field.
“It’s a life-changing experience for me. It’s allowing me to see students grow from a high school standpoint and collegiate students grow, but also industry professionals because we’re all learning from each other in this experience,” he told The Informer.