2026 Host Organizations

  • Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

  • National Society of Black Engineers

  • Society of Women Engineers

  • Alpha Omega Epsilon

  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

  • Women in Computing

  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  • Minorities in Computing

  • MCEC First Generation Students

  • ColorStack

  • Rocketry Club

  • Carolina Gamers Club

  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

  • Phi Iota Alpha

  • Kappa Theta Pi

  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers

  • National Society of Leadership and Success-SCC Chapter

  • Queer Students in Engineering and Computing

  • Society of Automotive Engineers

A word from our Presidents!

  • "The Spring Gala, originally founded by SHPE, continues to provide dedicated engineering students with an opportunity to expand their network amongst like-minded peers and professionals."

    Valeria Echandy Santiago

    SHPE

  • "Spring Gala is important because it creates a space where students from diverse backgrounds can come together, build meaningful connections, and celebrate their shared experiences. For our organization, it’s more than just an event, it’s an opportunity to strengthen community, expand professional networks, and highlight the impact of representation across campus. Events like this help foster collaboration, open doors to new opportunities, and reinforce the importance of inclusion in both academic and professional spaces."

    Solomon Jacobs

    NSBE

  • "The Spring Gala is important to SWE because it reinforces the importance of inclusion and representation within engineering, a field where women remain underrepresented. It provides an opportunity for minority students in engineering to build community and form meaningful connections with professionals, supporting both personal growth and career development."

    Elizabeth McClain

    SWE

  • "The Spring Gala is a great way for different orgs to get together and network with each other!"

    Chesley Blake

    AΩE

  • "As a chapter of a worldwide organization, IEEE is proud to participate in the MCEC Spring Gala, an important event that connects technical professionals in industry and education across diverse backgrounds."

    Grant Stanton

    IEEE

  • "The Spring Gala is important because community and opportunities to connect are crucial for students to transform into thriving professionals. Professionalism is a learned skill that that many college students don't get the opportunity to learn. The Spring Gala offers students the opportunity to practice these skills with other students and industry leaders."

    Katie Jones

    WiC

  • "The Spring Gala provides a unique opportunity for engineering students to connect beyond the classroom, building relationships with peers, student leaders, and industry professionals while celebrating the impact of our organizations across campus."

    Bradley Wardell

    ASME

  • "Our organization believes that Spring Gala is important because it creates a space where members can celebrate achievements, build meaningful connections, and represent our values in a professional setting."

    De'Juan Carson

    MIC

  • "As first gen students, it is very important for us to come together with other minority students to strengthen our foundation as a community, and to open new doors for all our students. For that, we thank all those who put in the work to allow the spring gala to thrive."

    Edwardo Gonzalez Coli

    MCECFG

  • "The Spring Gala not only provides various networking opportunities and a chance to utilize company resources but allows for the diversity of perspective across a range of fields where we all come together for one big day as a whole."

    Talithea Concepcion

    ColorStack

  • "This event allows for people of different origins to not only come together for an opportunity to nurture their professional development but build a wider and stronger community at home(USC)."

    Nimer Miranda Ferrera

    Rocketry Club

  • "KTP is proud to support the Spring Gala because it is a great way for MCEC students to practice their networking skills with companies as well as peers in their fields."

    Luke Jannazzo

    KTP

  • "The Spring Gala is important to our organization because it creates a space where culture, professionalism, and community come together. As members of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, we value opportunities that highlight diversity while also fostering meaningful connections between students, organizations, and professionals. The Gala allows us to represent our values, celebrate our collective achievements, and build relationships that extend beyond campus. It is also an opportunity to showcase leadership, unity, and the impact our organization continues to have within the university and surrounding community. Especially being an organization with a lot of STEM majors!"

    Ayemvi Bravo-Figueroa

    Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

  • "It provides an excellent opportunity for students from various backgrounds and disciplines to cross the borders that naturally form between us. We are given an opportunity to meet on equal ground and discuss various topics amongst ourselves, allowing for networking that would not typically take place."

    Christopher Coffee

    AIChE

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the premier organization for electrical and computer engineers. The largest technical professional society, we set the global standards for everything from Wi-Fi to AI. IEEE keeps its eyes on the horizon by supporting and uniting electrical, electronic, and computer engineers for the benefit of humanity.

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

Founder of the Diversity Gala, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is the nation's largest association dedicated to fostering Hispanic leadership in the STEM field. SHPE at the University of South Carolina is a fully inclusive organization that focuses on helping its members achieve their goals regarding academia and professional development. SHPE changes lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential and to impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support, and development with our four core values: Familia, Service, Learning, and Resilience. SHPE also allows its members to attend the SHPE National Convention, fully funded, where they have the opportunity to network, attend workshops, and potentially obtain internships or full-time jobs.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Co-host of the Diversity Gala, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers is an organization promoting the advancement and practice of mechanical engineering. UofSC’s student chapter hosts many different opportunities to get involved. These include guest lectures, networking events, FE review sessions, career prep, local club collaborative events, hands-on experience opportunities, and most importantly the Tiger Burn! 

National Society of Black Engineers

Co-founder of the Diversity Gala, the National Society of Black Engineers is one of the largest student-governed organizations based in the United States. NSBE, founded in 1975, supports and promotes the aspirations of collegiate and pre-collegiate students and technical professionals in engineering and technology.  NSBE's  mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community. The University of South Carolina's chapter of NSBE attends conferences where students have the chance to network, develop professional skills, and market themselves to a variety of companies

Society of Women Engineers

The Diversity Gala serves as a pivotal event for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), fostering inclusivity and celebrating the multitude of voices and perspectives within the engineering community. Attending this gala not only demonstrates support for diversity and inclusion initiatives but also provides an opportunity to connect with a vibrant network of professionals committed to advancing equality in STEM fields.

Minorities in Computing

The mission of Minorities in Computing is to create a network among students to foster mutual support, bring awareness to student opportunities, promote professional development, develop mentoring relationships and provide supplemental instruction where needed. By hosting workshops to develop their professional and technical skills, encouraging contact between industry professionals, and hosting fun social events, we do just that.

Women in Computing

Women in Computing at USC promotes and provides opportunities for women in the ever-growing world of technology. The club features several aspects: technical development, professional development, networking and bonding, and diversity efforts. Our organization hopes to unite women of all backgrounds through a passion for technology and computing, as well as reaching out to other girls and women with USC and our community to support and expose them to the computing industry.

Alpha Omega Epsilon

Co-founder of the Diversity Gala, Alpha Omega Epsilon is a professional and social sorority for women in Engineering and Technical Sciences. The sorority promotes ideals and objectives which further the advancement of female engineers and technical scientists and builds a foundation for lifelong bonds of sisterhood. Aplha Omega Epsilon aims to create, uplift, and support well-rounded professional women engineers and scientist across all disciplines.

Pi Tau Sigma

Co-host of the Diversity Gala, Pi Tau Sigma is the international Mechanical Engineering Honor Society that strives to instill its core values of Integrity, Service, and Leadership into all its members. Pi Tau Sigma is an International Honors Society for Mechanical Engineers. Having chapters at universities in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, our society is one that has taken steps to become more varied culturally. We were founded at the University of Illinois in March of 1916 and chapters of Pi Tau Sigma in the world, with a 183rd currently being voted on for approval. Our mission is to create better engineers through a commitment to academic excellence and service to the community. Pi Tau Sigma prides itself on its core values of Integrity, Service, and Leadership that every member develops throughout their professional career.

Theta Tau

Theta Tau is the oldest and largest co-ed professional engineering fraternity, founded in 1904. Our purpose is to develop and maintain a high standard of professional interest and a strong bond of fraternal fellowship through profession, brotherhood, and service. We strive to empower and support diversity, and inclusion in all spaces and are proud to co-host this year’s Diversity Gala