Reston, VA-based American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES), aaes.org, has selected Karl W. Reid, Ed.D., executive director of Alexandria, VA-based National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), as the recipient of its 2018 Kenneth Andrew Roe Award.

AAES’ award, presented on behalf of the engineering community, recognizes an engineer who’s been effective in promoting unity among the engineering societies.

Reid joined five other professionals in his field being honored at the AAES Annual Awards Banquet and Ceremony, at the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in Washington, DC in April:

• Siegfried S. Hecker, Ph.D., NAE, research professor, department of management science and engineering, and senior fellow emeritus, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, is the winner of the 2018 National Engineering Award.

• John R. Hall, P.E., president, Ludovici & Orange Consulting Engineers, is the winner of the 2018 Norm Augustine Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Communications.

• Anne S. Kiremidjian, Ph.D., professor of civil and environmental engineering, Stanford University, is the winner of the 2018 John Fritz Medal.

• D. Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., PE, distinguished professor, director, Clean Energy Research Center, University of Florida, is the winner of the 2018 Joan Hodges Queneau Palladium Medal.

• Catherine A. Leslie, PE, executive director, Engineers without Borders USA , is the winner of the 2018 AAES Chairs Award.

NSBE is a 17,000-member, student-governed organization dedicated to moving blacks from underrepresentation to overrepresentation in engineering.

In his role as executive director, Reid did the foundational work for the establishment of the 50K Coalition, a 40-organization collaborative effort formed by four preeminent engineering diversity membership organizations: NSBE, Albuquerque, NM-based American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Los Angeles, CA-based Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Chicago, IL-based Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

The coalition’s goal is to lead the U.S. to produce 50,000 diverse engineering graduates annually by 2025.

“Dr. Reid is an active supporter of unity within the engineering profession,” says Randall “Randy” S. Over, PE, AAES chair.

“He promotes and acts on the philosophy that together we’re more than individual engineers or individual engineering societies, but that engineers of all backgrounds and disciplines make a difference in the lives of people, and that together we continue to change the nation and the world for the better. We’re extremely pleased he’s the 2018 Kenneth Andrew Roe Award winner, and he’s being recognized for his leadership of the 50K Coalition.”

“I’m truly humbled to receive this award, which represents a recognition of the collective work of many of my colleagues,” says Reid.

“As engineers, we’re trained to be creative, disciplined problem-solvers. It became clear to those of us engaged in the mission of engineering diversity that we needed to work together to end the underrepresentation of blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and women in our field, and thus help the nation address its critical workforce needs, both now and in the future.”

Reid was raised in Roosevelt, a majority African-American town on Long Island, NY. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in materials science and engineering from MIT and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

After graduating from MIT, Reid enjoyed a successful career in product management, sales, marketing and consulting in the computer industry.

He’s dedicated his life for the past 20 years to achieving educational equity, increasing diversity in engineering and helping all students reach their potential, via educational policies and practices.

Reid joined NSBE as an undergraduate at MIT and served as the top-ranking officer of the Society, the national chair, in 1984-85.

Before joining NSBE as executive director in 2014, he was a senior vice president at the Washington, DC-based United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and, before that, an associate dean and director of the office of minority education at MIT.

His research as a doctoral student at Harvard explored the interrelationship of race, identity and academic achievement.

AAES is a multidisciplinary organization of engineering societies dedicated to advancing the engineering profession’s impact on the public good. AAES’ mission is “to serve as one voice for the U.S. engineering profession.”