The first meeting of the National Society of Black Engineers was held at Purdue University in 1975. This is when the lightning bolts and torch were adopted as the society’s symbol, representing the striking impact of contributions made by black engineers and the desire by the organization’s members for continued success.
Today, NSBE has grown to more than 500 chapters worldwide and the NSBE-UCLA chapter, created in 1980, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. To mark this milestone, we spoke with three members about the early days and how the chapter has evolved.