AABE Atlanta partners again with Georgia Tech Society
of Black Engineers to host BEAM Program at Georgia Tech

145 students and 13 teachers from Metro Atlanta, Fayette and DeKalb Counties attended the Atlanta Chapter of American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)’s annual BEAM program held on Georgia Institute of Technology’s campus, where members from AABE Atlanta and the Georgia Tech Society of Black Engineers (GTSBE) interacted with the students throughout the day.

Attendees started their day with an energy version of The Amazing Race game hosted by GE Energy, which tested their energy knowledge and fostered teamwork. During lunch, the AABE Georgia Tech Chapter members Alexis Coates, Kaeland Chatman, Taylor McKie and Enoch McKie used Google Hangout, an online video conferencing tool, to facilitate a group panel discussion where they shared helpful information about their college experiences and their transitions from high school to college.

The afternoon breakout sessions included two development sessions: “Making Good Life Decisions” sponsored by Thrive Youth Development, Inc. and “Essay Writing Tips for Scholarship Applications” sponsored by the AABE Atlanta. In addition to the break out session, the students visited exhibits from Georgia Tech Research Institute, Georgia Tech Army ROTC, Morehouse College
Entrepreneurship Center, Herndon Foundation Game Changers, NSBE Atlanta Professionals, GE
Energy, Southern Company, Georgia Power and Experis Engineering. The students also got a
firsthand look at three electric and one compressed natural gas vehicles, sponsored by Georgia
Power, Nissan, GE Energy, and AGL Resources respectively. Representatives from both AABE Atlanta and GTSBE were also on hand to address questions about scholarships, other education programs and energy career options.

Student and teacher feedback was extremely positive. Special thanks to the BEAM committee, program volunteers and event sponsors GTSBE, GE Energy, Experis Engineering, B2Unlimited, Inc., Marleen Metcalf, AGL Resources, Georgia Power, Southern Company, Georgia Natural Gas and SCANA Energy.

Contact: Heidi Boykin, AABE Atlanta BEAM Chair