Meet 2021 Spring Ceremony Student Speaker Faith Adegbenro

A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Faith Adegbenro, an electrical engineering senior graduating with honors, joined Howard University (HU) in 2017 as an international student. The warm, welcoming environment at HU made Adegbenro feel at home. It was not long before she acclimated, and her shining Bison spirit led her to a successful finish.

Adegbenro was always passionate about science and math, and later physics. Her father is a mathematician who always provided the extra help she needed with math, helping her excel and gain the skills required for her future endeavors. Her mother is a teacher who has always been very supportive throughout her life, and especially with school. Her mother instilled in her the idea to work smart and always maintain school-life balance for a healthy, well-balanced life.

It was in her later years of high school that Adegbenro fell in love with engineering and eventually claimed electrical engineering as the love of her work life. What she loves about electrical engineering is how you can take a concept and build something applicable to everyday life. “I love seeing how something I am knowledgeable about is needed in modern life essentials, such as computer chips and power transmission.”

Having served as president and previously secretary of the HU chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (HU IEEE), Adegbenro looks forward to maintaining the momentum she created amongst her fellow members with continued mentorship, plans and goals for the chapter. She has also been an active member of the Howard University chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers and Society of Women Engineers, the Howard University Robotics Organization, and a mentor and e-board member of the Chosen Christian Mentorship Organization. Adegbenro is quite passionate about supporting young women in STEM and has served as a facilitator for Girls Who Code, as well as a Lead Bison Tutor for Howard University Tutoring and Learning Support Services. She has volunteered at the Stanford University Computer Science Institute at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to gain invaluable experience she can share with others.

As for her industry experience, Adegbenro has interned at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory as a LCLS Controls Intern, at the PCTEST Engineering Laboratory as a RF Safety/SAR Engineering Intern, and at Amazon Robotics, Advanced Tech as a Hardware Development Engineer Intern. At the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Adegbenro won second place in the 2019 Poster Presentation and 3Minute Thesis. Locally, she won first place in the 2018 Google DC Hack coding challenges track.   

What’s next for our outstanding graduate?

Graduate school.

A master’s degree in electrical engineering is her next beginning. Adegbenro is enrolled in the electrical engineering master’s program at Stanford University and will begin her graduate school journey this Fall. She does not plan to waste any time at all.

And her best advice?

“Find out what matters to you. Understand why it matters and pursue it so you have purpose in life. And remember to take breaks. School-life balance is essential.”

We wish her all the best and look forward to her mentorship of HU IEEE!