An Important Role for Engineers

WHEN KHALID OSMAN ’16 isn’t teaching engineering classes at Stanford University, he works on issues around water equity.

"I constantly envision a world where access to basic resources like water is universal,” Osman says. “A lot of resilience has to be built into the system that isn’t in there now.” He knows policymakers need to take part in the building of that system, but he also sees an important role for engineers.

After moving from a refugee camp in Kenya to Portland, Khalid attended Benson High School and knew early on that he wanted to be an engineer of some kind. But he’d never imagined pursuing graduate studies or becoming a professor until coming to University of Portland.

“It took UP professors like Professor Inan to get me to realize that I could do a PhD,” he says.

And now he’s hoping to be the one to connect the dots for generations coming up behind him. For years he’s been involved with the African Youth & Community Organization (AYCO) and participates in a career fair they put on, the goal being to show other children of immigrants how they, too, can achieve social mobility and better their communities through careers like engineering.

“I really love where I am now,” he adds. “The whole process of having students who want to learn from you, who see you like a superhero, it’s amazing.”