February 14, 2005 Laurel, Maryland

Three Capitol College alumni will return to campus Feb. 24 to lead a panel discussion as the college celebrates National Engineers Week and Black History Month.

Graduates Charles Britt and Mike Cuthrell will lead a discussion on engineering and their careers.  In recognition of Black History month they will also offer their thoughts on role models in the history of engineering.

The panel discussion will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 in Room 245. All students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. Food and refreshments will be served.

"We decided to host a special event to recognize the engineering field and give our students a glimpse of the successful stories from a few of our alumni," said Richard Beall, vice president for institutional relations.

For Britt, the career interest began at an early age. A former president of the college's chapter of the National Society for Black Engineers, Britt graduated with a bachelor's degree in software and Internet applications. He is a project manager at Northrop Grumman.

"I participated in a computer-focused curriculum while in high school as part of a talented and gifted program," Britt said. "I have always been fascinated with computers. Growing up, we never had a personal computer in our home. I figured if I went to college and majored in a computer discipline, I could learn all I ever wanted to know about how computers work."

National Engineers Week, Feb. 20-26, was founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Co-chaired by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and BP, the week is dedicated to raising awareness about engineers' positive contributions to quality of life.