PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 12, 2023) – Graduating senior Erron Williams has always been good at math. School science fairs kindled his love of chemistry at an early age. And then, a chemical engineer came to speak to his class for a middle school career day program, and Williams found his calling.
Fast forward to today, where the chemical engineering major is this year’s recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for undergraduate student leadership.
The 23-year-old from Houston was among those awarded during the 2023 BEYA STEM Conference, which took place earlier this semester.
The Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA), in its 37th year, is a diversity initiative by the Career Communications Group, a media company. Annually, the awards recognize the best and brightest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) nationwide.
“Your award comes at a particularly critical time for the United States,” Tyrone Taborn, Career Communications CEO, wrote in his congratulatory letter to Williams. “Recent reports show that STEM enrollments are declining at a time when the global economy is driving up demand.”
At the three-day event hosted by Career Communications Group’s US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine, the 15-member Council of Historically Black College and University Engineering Deans, and Lockheed Martin Corporation, the 37th annual BEYA STEM Conference invited leaders, professionals, and students in STEM.
The honor came at an opportune time for Williams, who had transferred from another university to PVAMU. “This award means a lot to me because I was told by my previous university that they did not think I had a future in engineering,” said Williams, who is a Prairie View A&M legacy – his father is a 1999 PVAMU graduate. “So, to now be a Black Engineer of the Year award winner is the ultimate stamp of the determination I showed to get to this point.”
Williams has served in more than five voluntary positions with the National Society of Black Engineers. At PVAMU, he has served two terms on the NSBE National Executive Board, including the position of National Vice Chair for this past year. He recently brought 170 3rd-12th grade NSBE Jr. students to Disneyland for free during the 48th NSBE National Convention in Anaheim, California.
“I got to help create a memory that those students will never forget,” he said. “This meant a lot to me not only because it helped us surpass our target attendance but also because I never had the chance to attend Disneyland as a child, so seeing the smiles on all those faces is something I will never forget.”
He is also a member of the Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. In between his extracurriculars, Williams has also interned at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Halliburton Athlon Downstream Division.
Of all his activities and accomplishments, he points out two of note: being a Halliburton RISE scholar and helping lead a group of PVAMU students to second place in the 2021 annual Black Employee Network Phillips 66 Business and Engineering Diversity Case Competition.
More bright things are ahead for Williams. After he graduates this May, Williams already has a job lined up: He recently signed his offer to start as a chemical process engineer. He envisions two career paths: the managerial route, aiming for the C-suite level, or the technical route, where he’d like to work with nuclear fusion reactors to help solve the global energy crisis.
His aspirations come from watching others. “Honestly, I’ve always had the desire to be great,” Williams said. “I’ve been inspired by so many leaders and athletes over the years, but what they all have in common is they rose to the challenge every time they needed to step up, and that’s something I embody.”
Click here to view a complete listing of this semester’s notable graduates.
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