Mechanical Engineering Senior
SCU Chapter Senator, National Society of Black Engineers
Growing up in peaceful Corona, a diverse Southern California community nestled against the Santa Ana Mountains, Mike Simmons always excelled at math and science. A high school research project focused on renewable energy led him to question how he could be effective in that arena. "I really didn’t know what engineers do or how engineering contributed to sustainable energy, but I wanted to find out. I started Googling summer programs for high school students and found Santa Clara’s Summer Engineering Seminar. I applied and got in and had a lot of fun meeting cool people and learning about the different fields of engineering. That was when I decided mechanical engineering was the way to go."
Now in his final year at SCU, Mike is working on his senior design project. He and his teammates are designing a device to control a home's hot water heater. "A family's water heater runs all day long now; it should shut off when you’re not using it, when you’re at work or sleeping at night."
In addition to his studies, Mike is active in SCU's student chapter of NSBE, the National Society of Black Engineers. "In my freshman year, I was late to class one day and rushing across campus when the current chapter president stopped me and invited me to attend a meeting. I went to that first meeting and have been involved ever since. What I like about NSBE is that it offers professional development. Members from the professional chapter come in and speak with us about their careers, employment opportunities, and offer resume advice, interview tips, and guidance on using LinkedIn effectively. We also have the chance to attend the national conference, which has a great career fair of more than 500 companies. Even if you don’t get an internship or full-time job out of it, you make contacts who are always willing to help."
While NSBE gives its members a means of networking, it also provides an opportunity to give back. “Our chapter participates in outreach like Habitat for Humanity and we help out with NSBE's SEEK program (Summer Engineering Experience for Kids), where we go into inner-city neighborhoods and teach elementary school kids simple math, science, and engineering principles through fun and creative activities. If engineering had been introduced to me earlier, I would have been better off. We let them know they can be engineers and what engineering is."
Being a part of NSBE has brought Mike a valuable community. "For me, personally, I’m the only black mech in my class, and sometimes it's been kind of hard to fit in or find study groups or make connections. It would really help me in the classroom if I saw familiar faces. So it's been important to me to reach out to underprivileged students and put the idea of engineering in their heads, and let them know the opportunities SCU has to offer—especially with financial aid packages. NSBE has given me a way to do that."