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Well , good evening everyone . 

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It's great to be with everyone tonight 

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and let me congratulate all of 

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tonight's award winners and tie you've 

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done it once again . Great scott , 

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Congratulations to you and your team 

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for yet another tremendous event . You 

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know , over the past 37 years this 

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organization has recognized outstanding 

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american patriots and innovators . 

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Past black engineers of the year have 

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been electrical engineers and pilots 

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and astronauts and physicists . 

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They've made huge breakthroughs . 

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They've broken down barriers and 

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they've been driven to serve 

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and to make the world better and to 

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lift up the next generation . 

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You know , that commitment to service 

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has always been crucial for solving our 

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toughest problems and for defending 

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our country At the Department of 

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Defense . It's our mission to keep the 

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United States safe from a range of 21st 

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century threats . And that means 

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developing even more advanced 

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technology to sharpen our edge 

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and it means drawing on one of 

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America's core strengths and that 

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strength is our unmatched combination 

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of free enterprise free minds 

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and free people . D . O . D . 

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Scientists and engineers along with our 

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partners in academia . An 

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industry have always pioneered 

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critical innovations to defend our 

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country . These outstanding 

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professionals operate satellites that 

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enable precise global navigation , they 

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developed vaccines that saved countless 

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lives and they laid the 

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foundations of the internet 

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and the list goes on and on . 

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So we're determined to continue 

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innovating to make America more secure 

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and that means drawing on the strengths 

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of all people . You know , just last 

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month , the department announced the 

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creation of its newest university 

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affiliated research center at Howard 

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University . 

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That's the first ever established 

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at an hbcu . 

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This exciting initiative brings 

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together a consortium of nine H . B . C . 

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U . S under Howard's leadership to 

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research tactical autonomy and to 

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develop innovative ways to make our 

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military smarter and faster and 

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safer . And I know that 

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that's gonna do a lot of good for all 

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of us . So we've all got to step up to 

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support talented young students like so 

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many of you in this room , you are our 

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future and we will all be better 

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better off when you when you reach your 

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full potential . And so that's why this 

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conference is so important . It's 

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opening up new opportunities to young 

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people , It's shining a spotlight 

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on engineering fields and it's 

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connecting students with mentors who 

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will help teach them to reach new 

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heights . You 

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know , after Sir Isaac Newton developed 

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his laws of motion , he 

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famously said , quote , if I have 

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seen further , it's by standing on the 

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shoulders of giants , 

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engineers get that , 

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you know , that one breakthrough will 

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be the launching pad for many more 

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and you know that every engineer's work 

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bills on those who came before . And so 

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that's why it's so important that we 

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unlock more opportunities for more 

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young people because the next 

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generation is going to help us all see 

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a little bit further . So I hope that 

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we'll all keep looking for ways to 

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harness our skills and give back to our 

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country through academia , 

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business and serving your community 

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or serving in the United States 

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military America will be 

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stronger for it . You know , this 

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year marks 40 years since colonel guy 

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blue furred became the first african 

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american to fly to space , 

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Rolling into into low earth orbit in 

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1983 on the space shuttle 

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challenger . In a few years after that 

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historic mission , Colonel Blue furred 

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was named Black Engineer of the Year 

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and although he soared through the 

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heavens , he always remained down to 

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earth and he once said 

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I felt I had to do the best job that I 

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could for people like the tuskegee 

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airmen who paved the way for me 

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by breaking barriers for black airmen 

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during World war two , the tuskegee 

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airmen propelled Colonel Blue furred 

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higher . He stood on their 

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shoulders and today young pilots and 

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astronauts stand on his . 

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So let's keep making progress together 

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and let's challenge one another to do 

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even more , to support the young people 

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who are America's future , 

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be a mentor , be a 

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source of support , be the 

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shoulders for others to stand on . 

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I'd ask everyone to recommit yourselves 

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to that spirit of service because 

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that's how we'll expand opportunities 

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for all of our young people . It's how 

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well we'll tackle our biggest 

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challenges . It's how we defend our 

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democracy and it's how 

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we'll build a world that's more 

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secure and more Just 

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thank you for including me in this 

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wonderful wonderful celebration . And 

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again , congratulations . 

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Yeah . 

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Mhm . 

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Thanks