The 14th Annual Black Men’s Think Tank conference will highlight and address issues in education that are impacting African-American males.
The theme for this year is centered around the topic of “Reclaiming the Greatness of the Pyramid Builders.”
“We hope to inspire these individuals that leave the conference to go into the community and take some action, and follow up on some of the things that they’ve learned and are taught during the particular conference,” Bobby Beavers, coordinator for Minority Student Success said.
The main purpose of the conference is to bring African-American males together to present and discuss the impacts and contributions they have had throughout history in engineering, science, technology and mathematics.
On Friday April 11, the seventh annual youth conference for BMTT will be held in the basement of Building 8 in the stage area, where they will discuss science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM topics. Demonstrations by Sinclair professors Robert Gilbert, Bobby James, Sun Myong, Larraine Kapka and members of the Wright Patterson Air Force and Boonshoft Museum will be present.
Some of the demonstrations by Sinclair faculty will include a lesson on how to develop polymers with different molecules, which are used to develop cell phones, and an energy bike demonstration to give students a chance to see how much electricity they are able to generate while on the bike, among others.
A presentation about reverse engineering processes will also be held, where students will learn how to brainstorm, build, revise, test, sketch and design a particular task, according to Beavers.
During this presentation, students will build a working pneumatic power rocket with scissors, straws and construction paper.
“There has been so much reported about the need for us to have a more diverse workforce in the STEM area about the number of minorities in the STEM fields,” Beavers said. “We decided that we wanted to promote the area of STEM as being ones that our youth need to begin to consider.”
An average of 300 to 350 students attend the conference each year and 20 schools are invited.
“They are going to be having some fun,” he said. “And doing some hands-on kind of things.”
At the conference on Saturday, April 12, individuals of all races and religions are welcome to talk about the influences African-American males have had on history and invention.
“We are talking about the concepts, values, principles, attitudes and behaviors which have shaped our country today,” he said. “Talking about all the inventions we were part of and all the patens that black Americans have contributed.”
Beavers said he feels honored to be a part of the BMTT conference because it has helped him to expand and realize the different issues that affect African-Americas.
“It has given me the opportunity to help others make some differences in their community,” he said. “It’s very exhilarating to see how we all come together and to help make this a success.”
The Youth Conference on Friday will be held in Building 12 in the conferences rooms. A free breakfast will be served starting at 8:30, with a free lunch to follow, along with entertainment. On Saturday, registration will start at 8:30, with the conference set to start around 9:30 to 10 a.m. For more information, contact Bobby Beavers at (937) 512-3032 or bobby.beavers@sinclair.edu.