Epsilon Award for Career Achievement: Dr. Tayo Ibikunle (JPMorgan Chase)

National BDPA annually selects and awards the BDPA Epsilon Award to recognize and celebrate key contributions and accomplishments of its members. Nominations are accepted across five categories and they are evaluated by a team of National BDPA members.

One of the categories is Career Achievement. This honor is reserved for highly experienced professionals who have significant career accomplishments or contributions throughout their career.

BDPA is pleased to announce that Dr. Tayo Ibikunle has won the 2013 Epsilon Award for Career Achievement. He is a highly respected technologist with over 18 years of technology based experience with JPMorgan Chase (JPMC). Tayo Ibikunle has also held diverse senior positions, across many key businesses – including Investment Banking, Middle Markets, Retail, Corporate Sector, Credit Card business, Mortgage Banking and most recently in Consumer & Community Banking. As Chief Technology Officer of the Chase Financial Services Customer Center of Excellence, Tayo was responsible for delivering information technology (IT) solutions to enable an integrated customer experience across customer channels and touch-points. He also assumed IT leadership responsibilities for the Middle Market business segment, which managed the firm’s relationships for over 12,000 corporate clients. Among other key roles, Tayo has held positions of Co-Chief IT Architect and Chief Technical Architect.

Prior to joining JPMC, Tayo was Senior Strategic Manager at Sybase Engineering in California. Before taking the role of Senior Strategic Manager, Tayo was a Principal Consultant working with several Wall Street and telecommunication Firms to build large scale, distributed trading and processing engines for their businesses. At Thorn EMI Central Research Laboratories in the United Kingdom, Tayo was a Principal Research Engineer and worked on key pattern recognition and image processing technologies

Dr. Ibikunle has both an MS and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London, as well as a BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University Of Ife, Nigeria. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

Tayo is a dedicated advocate for diversity within the workplace and serves as a mentor to many. Tayo took on the role of Executive Sponsor of JPMC’s engagement with BDPA – a major career and leadership network for Black IT professionals - in 2006. It is under his leadership that the JPMC BDPA Leadership Forum was established. This forum consists of representatives from various JPMC IT facilities across the United States where we have engaged with a local BDPA chapter. He is also on the Global Steering Committee for BOLD (Black Organization for Leadership Development) and a member of the Firm-wide Technology Diversity Council. Tayo serves as a director of the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation since his appointment in 2008.

The award nomination was submitted by BDPA Northern Delaware chapter president Karen Smith.

BDPA New Jersey Hosts 10th Annual Families in Technology Day

The New Jersey chapter of the largest organization of African Americans in STEM industries, BDPA, is hosting its 10th Annual Families in Technology Day on June 8, 2013. This all-day event will encourage students and their parents to explore the tech arena, and learn the ins and outs from many of the industries’ finest teachers. Held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the event will include workshops, instruction and an inspiring message from keynote speaker, Dr. Randal Pinkett.

Goldie Bonney

BDPA New Jersey president Goldie Bonney is excited about the 10-year mark of this event. “We’re proud to reach another milestone in technology for our organization. With the way STEM is constantly changing, it’s important for us to make sure the community, especially the students, are equipped and empowered with the tools to stay in demand,” explains Bonney. “Through the support of our sponsors JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, and Prudential, we’re anticipating hundreds to attend this year.”

Students have been notoriously intimidated by curriculum associated with going into the technology industry, yet the career opportunities are rapidly growing, with demand at an all-time high for STEM educators and industry professionals.

Laptops will be raffled to students between grades four and twelve who register and submit the required one-paragraph personal statement of their potential personal benefits from receiving computers via the chapter’s Eventbrite site.

The keynote speaker, Pinkett, says he embraces the opportunity to inspire young people, and help them become less intimidated by coursework and opportunities in technology. As the co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of BCT Partners, Pinkett knows about entrepreneurship and opportunity for growth in technology, and insists on giving back.

The venue is the New Jersey Institute of Technology, located at 323 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Newark, N.J., 07103, and the event’s low-cost admission is five dollars.