Between three and four percent of engineers in this country are Black. About 6,000 Blacks graduate with engineering degrees each year – far less than Whites. The great majority of engineers are White and men.

This Saturday, the Millersville University Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers is holding its first ever Career Carnival to generate interest in the Science Technology Engineering and Math fields and showcase safety equipment to the community.

The Career Carnival was the brainchild of Jordan Branch, a senior manufacturing engineering technology major and president of the NSBE Millersville student chapter, who said on The Spark Monday that he got the idea for the carnival from a "Touch-Me-Truck" event geared toward children. Branch said he envisioned an event that where children, students and adults could see safety equipment up-close but also learn about the STEM field, with an emphasis on STEM opportunities for African-Americans, "What I want them to take away is there's a community that looks just like them. Because the whole point of this career carnival is I'm asking these employers, it's not a requirement to have somebody from underrepresented or minority community. My goal is for these kids to see not only themselves as professionals, but students in the same place."

When asked why there are so few Black engineers, Branch said he didn't think it was a lack of opportunities as much as not being exposed or aware of STEM, "When I talk to a lot of my friends that are in the same program, they kind of bumped into it is either one or two things. Either they have family that's already in this field or they were inspired because they took things apart."

But Jordan Branch is much more than a soon-to-be engineer – he also is active in the community in many ways, including food and coat drives. He was inspired by his mother who Jordan said started by encouraging him to help older ladies carry their groceries to their car or into their houses. Today, giving back to the community is on a larger scale,"With the help of the Lancaster Food Hub, Lancaster Habitat for Humanity, and The United Way of Lancaster County we were able to collect and distribute over 250 coats to those in need."

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