BDPA State of the Chapter (Philadelphia, January 2014)

BDPA Philadelphia hosted its annual 'State of the Chapter' meeting in last month. Featured speakers included BDPA Philadelphia chapter president Eileen Gadsden, National BDPA president Dr. Craig Brown and National BDPA founder Earl Pace. Enjoy this video clip from that meeting:

Related articles

• Grant Disbursement: BDPA Philadelphia ($500)
• Why You Should Have Been at the Bdpa 2013 Conference!

Procter & Gamble: Resident Scholar Program

There are remarkable science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs around the nation. Our hope is that BDPA students are made aware of these STEM programs so that they can participate. We know that STEM careers have potential to lift families out of poverty. We need to continue to prepare our youth with meaningful STEM-related experiences so that they can opt-in to STEM education and career choices. One of the great STEM programs in the greater Cincinnati area is hosted by BDPA sponsor Procter & Gamble. This is the 10th year for the P&G Resident Scholar Program.

The P&G Resident Scholar Program is a unique 1-week job shadowing experience for high school minority students (10th and 11th grade during the ‘13/’14 school year) interested in pursuing STEM-based careers. The impact that this experience has had on the students has been phenomenal!

“This program convinced me to pursue science and engineering because I was able to see the career opportunities and application of science to industry. “ - RSP Participant.

Plans are currently underway to make this year the best yet. We need your help by identifying qualified students interested in taking advantage of this outstanding opportunity. Click here for the application details.

Related articles

• What is STEM Outreach?

An Hour of Code for Every Student

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation encourages all of its supporters to participate in Computer Science Education Week (December 9-15, 2013) ... particular the 'Hour of Code' initiative!




Why computer science?
Computer science provides a foundation for virtually any career - everybody can benefit from learning the basics. Visit Code.org for inspiration.

What's an Hour of Code?

It's a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator.  The goal is to provide a variety of self-guided tutorials that anybody can do, on a browser, tablet, or smartphone. You can even have unplugged tutorials for classrooms without computers. No experience needed.

How can I host the Hour of Code at my local BDPA chapter, school, company, or organization?

• At your school: If you are a parent or student, ask the principal or a tech-savvy teacher for their support to allow you to host the Hour of Code. It is not hard to organize events and connect to the Hour of Code tutorials. See the school participation guide for more information.

• If you are a teacher, You can find resources to support your leading an Hour of Code. The tools are simple, painless, and easy to use. Don't have enough computers in your school? Don't worry, we have offline or phone-based options. See the school participation guide for more information.

• At your company: Sign up your co-workers for an hour of code. See our employer participation guide for more information.

• At your local BDPA chapter or nonprofit: There are many event ideas to share that will help you get your members excited and activated to host an Hour of Code in your community. See the community participation guide for more information.

• At home: Organize a family hour of code and let your kids teach you. You can use PCs, tablets, smart phones, or one of our Hour of Code unplugged activities (example). Everything is available online, to make it easy for busy parents to participate.

What day do I need to do my Hour of Code?
You can do your Hour of Code on any day during CSEdWeek (December 9-15, 2013).

What if I live outside of the US?
You are welcome to participate in the Hour of Code.

• Click Here to Learn More About An Hour of Code
• Click Here to see video on Coding

Old School Friday: 'Skypager' - A Tribe Called Quest

Geek Lyric: In a song flush with quotable lines, "Beeper's goin off like Don Trump gets checks. / Keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets" stands out simply because of the Donald's longevity. [SOURCE]

Hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest developed a reputation for insightful political and social commentary, but the group also celebrated gadgets and tech. They frequently trumpeted the swinging benefits of one particularly awesome status symbol of the '80s and '90s: the pager.



A recurring feature on our blog ... Old School Friday! Every so often we will share a music video from back in the day that had a technology twist. If you have ideas on potential songs you think should be included ... please share!

Old School Friday: 'Rockit' - Herbie Hancock

A recurring feature on our blog ... Old School Friday! Every so often we will share a music video from back in the day that had a technology twist. If you have ideas on potential songs you think should be included ... please share!

Soulclap to Kimsuccess Milton who reminded us of the technofunk that Herbie Hancock brought to us back in 1984. How many of y'all remember the androids and ridiculous robot-like figures that were part of the 'Rockit' video?

BDPA Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Freeman Hrabowski (UMBC President)

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski (president, University of Maryland, Baltimore County) received a BDPA Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2013 BDPA Technology Conference. He shared his thoughts on this award via this video clip.



Dr. Hrabowski is a leading advocate for getting diversity in higher education and is committed to helping students of all backgrounds pursue their dreams of becoming scientists and engineers. President Barack Obama recently named him chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

Old School Friday: 'Computer Love' (Zapp with Roger Troutman)

A new feature on our blog ... Old School Friday! Every so often we will share a music video from back in the day that had a technology twist. If you have ideas on potential songs for us to share ... please share!

How many of you remember Roger Troutman and his band, Zapp? One of their hits was a song called, 'Computer Love'.

BDPA Chicago Chapter in Review (1993)

Hat tip to Milt Haynes and his new Blacks Gone Geek blog for sharing historical video entitled 1993 BDPA Chicago Chapter in Review Video. This video was a collaborative effort with BDPA leaders (Ollie Morgan, Sheila McCaskill, Mike Davis) and Chicago Access Cable (producer, Derek Grace). The video provides an up close and personal look at BDPA students, members and corporate sponsors.

I wonder where the 1993 BDPA Chicago Chapter HSCC Team is now? They are named in the middle of this video. Do any of you know where they are now?

Popular Technology TV: 'Micosoft Store'

Popular Technology TV (PTTV) features the latest technology innovations and multimedia programming content produced for video streams and television. PTTV is hosted by Sharrarne Morton (Morton Media). Programming is powered by BDPA Washington DC and bdpatoday with support from our information and communications technology industry partners for general audiences.



Nothing builds business like exposure in the marketplace. Let the PTTV television show help to raise your company profile and build excitement around your products. Cable and broadcast networks that air the show will be announced in February 2014. PTTV will start airing on those cable and broadcast networks in the Washington DC metropolitan area in March 2014.

VIDEO: Review of 2013 BDPA Technology Conference

35th Annual BDPA Technology Conference was held in Washington DC on August 14-17, 2013. The event marked the largest gathering of IT professionals of color in the nation ... and also included over 50 major corporate sponsors. The 4-day event included an awards gala, career fair, corporate hospitality receptions, IT Showcase, live entertainment, plenary sessions,workshops and a youth technology camp. This video gives a glimpse of the people and activity from this annual conference!



BDPA exists to advance the careers of African Americans in the IT industry from the classroom to the boardroom. There are 46 local BDPA chapters located around the nation. Visit http://www.bdpa.org or call (301) 584-3135 to ask questions or discuss further.

Video Credit: Sharrarne Morton (Morton Media) and Steve McMillan (Cape Fear Productions).

Bernard Bampoh (Southern Minnesota) Wins 1st Annual Lockheed Martin Scholarship for BDPA Students

BDPA president Monique Berry, Bernard Bampoh, BDPA founder Earl Pace

BDPA awarded the first annual 'Lockheed Martin Scholarship for BDPA Students' at the 2013 BDPA Technology Conference held in Washington DC. The winner was a remarkable young man - Bernard Bampoh - who is a rising senior at Century High School in Rochester, MN. Bernard participated in the BDPA Youth Technology Camp (YTC) as a member of the BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter.

The Lockheed Martin Scholarship for BDPA Students encourages a current or rising high school senior to pursue a STEM-based college curriculum. The student must be a registered participant in the annual YTC. The decision on scholarship winners would be two-fold.

First, we accepted nominations from each chapter that is sent a YTC student to the conference. The survey was character-based and focused on areas such as behavior, preparation, responsibility, communication, attendance, team ethic and integrity.

Second, the scholarship winner must demonstrate onsite excellence during the onsite YTC workshops and activities.

Bernard submitted this video vignette as part of his scholarship application package to share his interest in STEM education as well as his desire to become our first BDPA-Lockheed Scholar.



The scholarship is administered by the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation.

BDPA Leaders Tout Upcoming Career Fair on 'NewsTalk' in Washington DC

 

National BDPA founder Earl Pace and media mogul Sharrarne Morton share insights about the 35th annual BDPA Technology Conference on a recent episode of 'NewsTalk'.

Take a moment to enjoy the interview on the ABC affiliate network in Washington DC.

Earl, Sharrarne and other BDPA leaders are working hard to encourage heavy foot traffic at the BDPA Career Fair on August 16-17, 2013 at the Washington Hilton. Attend in person ... bring your resume and a friend! If you can't attend in person then you can still register on the BDPA Job Board.

Monsanto Increases Its Investment in BDPA as a Bronze Level Sponsor

Vincent Shorter

Great news to report today! Monsanto renewed its Bronze Level corporate sponsorship this week. The company is a long-time BDPA sponsor ... and they have done some truly breakthrough work in support of the BDPA St Louis chapter High School Computer Competition (HSCC) training over the past few years ... resulting in a silver medal for that team at the 2012 National BDPA HSCC championships.

"It is my honor to work with the Monsanto family and continue to grow and cultivate BDPA and Monsanto partnership," said National BDPA vice president Dr. Craig Brown. "I look forward to transforming our partnership into a tradition when Monsanto employees and the members of its surrounding communities can continue to benefit from BDPA local chapter activities and the BDPA National Conference, year in and year out."

Monsanto will have an active presence at the 35th annual BDPA Technology Conference in Washington DC on August 14-17, 2013, including a booth at the career fair and a table at the Awards Gala. The company also plans to leverage the BDPA Job Board to increase the number of qualified IT professionals of color for career opportunities at Monsanto.

Best of all, the company agreed to fund four (4) college scholarships for young people in St. Louis and around the nation. BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) plans to announce the brand-new Monsanto Scholarship for BDPA Students within the next week or so.



Somebody use the COMMENTS feature to share some love with our friends at Monsanto ... especially the 'corporate champion' within the company - Vincent Shorter! Vincent named it in the video ... and now Monsanto is claiming it as well!

BDPA iRadio Show: June 4, 2013 (John Hoffler, Eloise Young)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is very proud to be the creator of the BDPA iRadio Show. You can listen to the archive version of the show using the widget shown in the right-hand sidebar of this blog. FREE download from the iTunes Store is also available for our listeners!

Listen to internet radio with BDPA on BlogTalkRadio

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The guests on the June 4th show:

Eloise Young - Chief Information Officer, Philadelphia Gas Works - Eloise Young is a remarkable role model for BDPA members in her role as the chief information officer for a major utility company - Philadelphia Gas Works. BDPA first met Eloise at the 2010 BDPA Technology Conference when she shared insights on a panel of IT executives. Later, she agreed to support BDPA by joining the BDPA Philadelphia chapter's Corporate Advisory Council. We look forward to hearing what Eloise has to say about both the IT industry and BDPA! Her twitter handle is @en_young.

John Hoffler - UNIX Engineering Manager, BB&T Bank - John Hoffler has a remarkable BDPA legacy. He is one of only five people in almost 40 years of BDPA history to serve as president of two difference BDPA chapters (Greenville and St. Louis). His two children have both competed in the national BDPA High School Computer Competition championships. However, John wants to share his insights from Corporate America with our BDPA iRadio Show audience. He wants to provide some advice to graduating college students who are going after their first job in a STEM-related field. His tips are based on first-hand experiences from interviewing candidates for junior engineering positions. His local chapter's twitter handle is @bdpacharlotte.

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We hope you enjoy the insights and commentary on the show from each of these guests. Please take a moment to post a comment to let us know that you care!

Overview: BDPA IT Showcase

The BDPA IT Showcase is an advanced technology forum where High School and College students from across the nation demonstrate their research and theories in the fields of information technology. Papers will be published in the IT Showcase Proceedings. The purpose of this program is to encourage more students of color to advance their education to the Ph.D. level in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) curriculum.  Click here to see more detailed overview.

BDPA IT Showcase founder Dr. Jesse Bemley notes, "Attendees will be amazed at the thoroughness of the research and the advanced topics presented at the IT Showcase. The IT Showcase treats the audience to challenging 'outside-the-box' thought."

The projects focus on various “advanced thought” topics including: artificial intelligence, database technology, web design technology, wired and wireless communication technology, IT security, data mining, global position systems, graphical processing units, soft computing, production planning tools, high performance computing, cloud computing, green technology, virtual technologies, nanotechnology, robotics, operating systems, IT certification, social media and much more.

The Showcase presentations consist of demonstrations where applicable. Three awards (First, Second and Third Prize) are made in each of two categories: High School and College (undergraduate). In recent years the top performers in the IT Showcase have won college scholarships funded by Johnson & Johnson.

Over the past few years there were 46 undergraduate papers and 74 high school papers presented from students in 14 states, 33 high schools, 12 universities and three community colleges. Our hope is that all 46 local BDPA chapters will find a way to send a student ... ideally one of their HSCC alumni ... to participate in the next BDPA IT Showcase.

VIDEO: Showing Students How to Leverage Blacks Gone Geek Website

This short video shows high school and college students how to navigate the Blacks Gone Geek website to find information on careers in technology, student internships, STEM programs, and much, much more.



Milt Haynes is the founder of Blacks Gone Geek. He is also a past national BDPA president with a powerful legacy in the BDPA community. We encourage all BDPA supporters to learn more about Milt's Blacks Gone Geek initiative.

Program Meeting: 'Agile Software Development' (BDPA Detroit, April 2013)

BDPA Detroit chapter program meeting in April 2013 focused on 'Agile Software Development'. The guest speaker focused on how Agile is changing the way we develop applications software, the dynamic in the work place and the tools used. While there is no simple definition of Agile Software Development Framework, it is plain to see that it is terminology which will become commonly used to describe delivering value in the work place.

The meeting explored some of these approaches while sharing an overview of IBM's Agile Software Development Tool with the audience participants.  Here is the video from the meeting:

BDPA iRadio Show: April 23, 2013 (Linwood Bailey, Tim Butts)

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is very proud to be the creator of the BDPA iRadio Show. You can listen to the archive version of the show using the widget shown in the right-hand sidebar of this blog. FREE download from the iTunes Store is also available for our listeners!

Listen to internet radio with BDPA on BlogTalkRadio

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The guests on the April 23rd show:

Linwood Bailey - Founder & owner, Fields of Success - Linwood Bailey was introduced to BDPA by past national president Milt Haynes back in 2008. Linwood is a career coach who specializes in assisting professionals with the management of their most important economic asset -- their careers. He is also the author of The Business of Me: Your Job … Your Career … Your Value, a career management guidebook designed the today’s business professional. His twitter handle is @LinwoodBailey.

Tim Butts - Principal and owner, TEB1 & Associates - Tim Butts owns a consultancy that specializes in business intelligence and IT systems. He has been working with healthcare organizations for over 20 years. His workshop presentation at the 2013 BDPA Technology Conference is titled, 'Lessons Learned: Implementing EHR'. Healthcare IT remains a very hot area for employment in the IT industry. Tim will share some of the lessons that he's learned over the years of implementing 'electronic health records' (EHR). The process of converting health records from paper to digital is full of land mines. Tim's case study approach to this workshop will allow attendees to avoid those dangers. His twitter handle is @TEB1Consulting.

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We hope you enjoy the insights and commentary on the show from each of these guests. Please take a moment to post a comment to let us know that you care!

VIDEO: 'Your Future in IT Starts Today'

There are upwards of 500 students engaged in BDPA computer camps around the nation on any given weekend. Here is a video that can be shared with each of those students and their parents during orientation. This video production is the creation of BDPA Twin Cities chapter leader Michael Wulf.



What did you think of Michael's video vignette?

Seeking Students for BDPA IT Showcase

BDPA Charlotte chapter is actively recruiting high school and college students to participate in the 2013 BDPA IT Showcase. Chapter member Kevin Robinson created this promotional video to help get the word out.



The message applies nationwide. BDPA understands that there are too few African Americans stretching themselves to obtain PhD in computer science or other STEM-related curriculum. That is the deeper purpose for the BDPA IT Showcase. We want to show our students role models as well as encourage them to showcase their research and presentation skills. Please let us know if you know of a high school or college student interested in participating in the 2013 BDPA IT Showcase!