Student Success: Honda Dreams Scholar Belquis Mbayu builds a new path

Belquis Mbayu had always been a logically-minded kid. In school she was part of a science and technology program and participated in STEM clubs and competitions like Final Frontiers. Creating and tinkering were her passion.

Mbayu always imagined herself becoming an orthodontist and helping others. But the more she thought about it, it was not applying the braces that interested her — but the braces themselves.

She said she was not drawn to the prognoses, diagnoses, and years of medical school. Rather, she wanted to be the person creating biomedical devices that help people.

“I think a lot of people need to reflect on those teenage years and childhood years a lot and look at what you did,” Mbayu said. “Looking back, I knew I liked creating a lot of stuff, so reflecting I thought, maybe I should lean toward engineering.”

To Mbayu, pursuing engineering is a way to help people by creating biomedical devices. Mbayu is originally from Cameroon and said that the medical system there is poorly kept. She wants to help change that.

“I am creating these devices here, but my ultimate goal would be to also help people all over the world with my biomedical devices,” she said. “I knew I had a purpose, and my purpose is engineering.”

With that in mind, Mbayu decided to join a STEM-focused program in her high school, become part of clubs like The National Society of Black Engineers, and take STEM and AP classes that prepared her for an engineering career.

While trying to pick schools, Mbayu visited Ohio State two weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic and fell in love with the environment.

“The way people at Ohio State interact with you, they are just very kind. I remember specifically that there is an office of diversity and inclusion here for engineering and they do an amazing job of providing resources to individuals who are underrepresented,” Mbayu said. “So as a Black woman doing mechanical engineering that is something that I need because I am a rarity in my major.”

Mbayu decided to attend Ohio State after becoming part of the Morill Scholarship Program to pursue mechanical engineering. In her first two years, she has been part of the PREFACE summer program and ACCELERATE summer program, worked in Professor Carlos Castro’s Nanotechnology Lab, and participated in Ohio State’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter, the African Youth League, the Zuuva Afro-Caribbean Dance team, and the Black Student Association.

Last October, Mbayu, a second-year in mechanical engineering, was part of the first ever cohort of Honda Dreams Scholars.

“I was ecstatic! I mean I think anybody would be super happy if they found out they won $5000 but especially for me because my parent wanted me to get external scholarships,” Mbayu said. “This was my goal, and my parents were equally excited. Also, it was really cool to meet Honda representatives and see the whole field.”

Supporting diversity in both the college and field of engineering, the $5,000 Honda Dreams Scholarships are awarded to students majoring in electrical and computer engineering, industrial and systems engineering, or mechanical engineering who are active in the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, or organizations with similar missions. The scholarships are renewable for up to three years.

To Mbayu, these scholarships are key in helping underrepresented students like herself succeed and reach their dreams in their desired fields – especially in one as predominately white and male as engineering.

 “I don’t think people realize how much identity plays into your success in certain environments,” she said. “So, going to Ohio State, a predominately white institution, it was definitely an adjustment and it still is. For example, in my math class I am the only Black person. And you feel a little imposter syndrome whether you know it, or it is subconscious, because you walk in a room and you think, nobody looks like me. And you start to think, do I deserve to be here?”

Mbayu wants future students like her to know they do. Another goal Mbayu has set for herself is to be an example for other Black women who want to study or have a career in STEM.

“I don’t want to be one of the only Black woman that is doing mechanical engineering,” she said. “I am fine with being one of the first, but my goal is that as time goes on, I can inspire younger Black women to go into STEM. Being a good representative of it is not as hard and providing people with resources in being able to do that.”

Mbayu plans to finish her undergraduate degree at Ohio State and then pursue a master’s degree