ELITE Program for Black Youth

eHUB SPARK Student Pitch Night is coming up this Thursday, Sept. 19th! Join us for a showcase of 25+ student-led startups, innovation projects, and research ideas. We'll watch a two-minute pitch from each participant, followed by plenty of time to network with folks from the U of A innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem! 5:30 - 8:00 PM in CCIS L1-140 RSVP Here: https://lnkd.in/guexX_FT

Last Friday, the fourth cohort of the ELITE Program wrapped up their summer of learning, innovation, and exploration. Presenting to an audience of peers, internship hosts, and family, interns showcased their impressive contributions to projects spanning linguistics research to biological species identification. Thank you to our session chairs Andre McDonald, Uwa Iyamu, Natacha Louis - Ph.D., and Mourad Ferdaoussi for lending us your expertise and time. Kudos to all the interns this summer! We wish you all the best as you head into the new school year. ⁠ ⁠ Keep an eye out for some cool profiles of a few of the awesome students from this year's group! 

Adil, a soon-to-be 12th grade student, is finishing up his summer with the ELITE Program. He spent the summer learning at the Advanced Heat Transfer and Surface Technologies (AHTST) Laboratory, a state of the art mechanical engineering lab. This experience is a huge step towards making his dream of becoming a mechanical engineer a reality!  

Closing out our week of profiles is Yadhiera Despeines!  An incoming Engineering student at the University of Alberta, Yadhiera spent her summer working at the Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory Right now her dream is to become an astronautical engineer but she's excited to explore her options as she begins her undergraduate studies. "I applied to the ELITE program in order to find community and gain valuable research experience. This internship pushed me to take up space in a world where people like me are often at a disadvantage when pursuing careers in STEM. I feel further empowered to embrace the many facets of my identity and initiate positive change in society"

Adil, a soon-to-be 12th grade student, is finishing up his summer with the ELITE Program. He spent the summer learning at the Advanced Heat Transfer and Surface Technologies (AHTST) Laboratory, a state of the art mechanical engineering lab. This experience is a huge step towards making his dream of becoming a mechanical engineer a reality!  

Calling all University of Alberta Student Entrepreneurs, Innovators, and Change Makers! We're now accepting signups to showcase your startup or idea at our SPARK Pitch Night, happening on Thursday, September 19th on campus. Learn more and sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gXNDQpVT Not a U of A student, but want to attend as an audience member? RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gZ89WQFf #Edmonton #Startups #PitchNight #Entrepreneurship

Judging at the ELITE Demo day was so rewarding, it was amazing to see the students build out their startup ideas using the different concepts taught throughout the summer, Huge Congratulations to U-eats, taking 1st place for the winning concept around student-centered food delivery in the university creating jobs and reducing wait times was incredible and the teamwork was even better. Special thanks to Prof Andre McDonald, Edmonton Unlimited and the University of Alberta. 

As a human ecology major, Veronica Obateru wasn't sure if the ELITE Program was right for her. Thankfully she applied anyway and found internship opportunities right up her alley! She spent the summer testing textiles as a research assistant and leaves the program with a set of invaluable skills and experiences. 

Meet another one of our awesome high school interns! Alberta Onyedika will be starting his BSc. in engineering this fall and is finishing up a summer as a lab researcher at the University of Alberta. He got some hands-on experience and practical skills this summer that will hopefully come in handy as he starts his undergraduate career.  

As the 2024 cohort of the ELITE Program wraps up, let's meet a few more of this year's talented students! First up is Hope Anaky. Hope spent the summer working for Espace LiFT, a French linguistic research group out of the University of Alberta. In the summer she'll be starting her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Alberta. "I applied for the Elite Program because I wanted to gain valuable research experience and to prove to myself that I could be versatile. I was particularly captivated by the diversity and the richness of the science fields." We wish her the best as she begins her undergraduate studies!