Four School of Computing student scholars and one faculty member attended the 2024 Annual NACME Conference and Gala Oct. 17-19 in Houston, Texas.
NACME is a non-profit organization that focuses on research and scholarship as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the fields of engineering and computer science. NACME is the largest provider of college scholarships for underrepresented minorities pursuing degrees at schools of engineering.
Seth Polsley, Assistant Professor of Practice in the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, accompanied student scholars Yohannes Hailu, Anok Timothy, Leopoldo Hernandez, and Oliver Triana Gutierrez.
“We had a particularly excellent group of students attending this year’s NACME event,” Polsley said. “They presented themselves extremely well and made a positive impression among everyone there on behalf of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.”
This is the first year the School of Computing has partnered with the NACME scholarship program. Supported by both NACME and the College of Engineering, the school’s inaugural cohort has twenty-four NACME scholars.
The NACME Conference and Gala is the organization’s flagship event, aimed at bringing scholars and university representatives together as a community to exchange ideas and facilitate future opportunities. The two-day event included a dinner, a hackathon, a career fair, a university partners meeting, and special certification classes for students.
“Through the fair, I met many young students from all over the country who are interested in engineering and computing,” Polsley said. “I setup a table to advertise the university and School of Computing to high schoolers and current college students thinking about grad school. I’m hoping that brief interaction encouraged them to think about applying to UNL.”
Every student who participated in the hackathon event received a small scholarship. Hernandez and his team placed in third and won a prize.
“I worked with a team of four students, each in different universities, to find a solution to the problem of bias in AI,” Hernandez said. “I enjoyed getting to know my team and their personalities as well as their work ethic in the project. We spent 24 hours solely working on coding, brainstorming, and presenting, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Polsley said the NACME conference and similar events are invaluable experiences for undergraduate students.
“Attending a conference is a major opportunity to travel and make new connections with people from other schools and companies,” Polsley said. “I always encourage every student to participate in a university-oriented conference if the opportunity arises. It is simply too great a learning experience and access point for networking and career building to pass up.”
