Ten Herff students get hands-on experience in city government through Urban Fellows Program
August 5, 2026
Every summer, the City of Memphis offers a unique opportunity to dozens of college students across the city.
The Urban Fellows Program provides students with a 10-week internship and offers students a chance to get directly involved in the city government’s work of improving the lives of citizens. Students from the Herff College of Engineering made up 10 of the 23 participants who were placed in the city’s division of engineering.
The program, part of a broader workforce and talent strategy, aims to encourage students to pursue careers in public service, regardless of their degree. Of course, engineers touch all branches of city government, even the mayor’s office, with Memphis Mayor Paul Young holding a degree in electrical engineering.
Herff College of Engineering sophomore Talib Fifer is also majoring in electrical engineering. Much like the city’s desired pipeline into public service, Fifer joined the Urban Fellows Program after being introduced to it in his Herff Horizons mentoring program.
That’s where he met Urban Fellows co-organizer, Herff alum and City of Memphis Interim Land Development Manager and Prevailing Wage Project Manager Matthew J. McBride. When McBride told Fifer about the opportunity to join Urban Fellows and serve the City of Memphis, Fifer jumped at the chance.
“What attracted me was being able to help out with the city, being born and raised in Memphis,” Fifer said. “So, having the shot to be in a program where I get to work closely with the engineers of Memphis, it was like gold for me.”
Fifer and nine of his fellow Herff students gained exposure to 13 different City of Memphis departments during their summer internships, learning about areas such as traffic safety, data collection, project management, reviewing city plans, and interacting with residents and city stakeholders alike.
“They have been able to get a little bit of everything,” McBride said. “We didn’t want them to come in and just get an engineering experience where it was very technical. We wanted to open the opportunity for them to be able to move throughout different departments over these 10 weeks. Primarily, we want them to become the best professional they can be from this experience. We want them to understand what it’s like to work as a professional rather than just being a student.”
Those different experiences are designed to open students’ eyes to all the possibilities a career in engineering can offer. From working in city safety to arts and entertainment, and in the hospitals and schools we rely on daily, engineers touch every part of our lives, whether we know it or not.
Through her experience in the program, mechanical engineering sophomore Sophia Naweed developed a newfound interest in urban planning.
“It’s not part of engineering specifically, but a lot of engineers work with the urban planning department. For example, my project was to take a site that was near the airport, one that’s mostly abandoned but in an employment zone. So they would take that area and decide what to put there. Would they put banks in it? Would they put a shopping mall there? So, that’s about what urban planning is,” Naweed said.
Shelia Moses, Assistant Director of the Herff College of Engineering's Engineering Experiential Learning and Industry Partnerships, has been recruiting Herff students for the program since Urban Fellows was created in 2022. Moses, who organizes Herff’s career fairs and helps students gain industry exposure through year-round events, said that cross-disciplinary and early exposure to different career opportunities are crucial building blocks for students preparing to enter the workforce.
“Internships allow students to discover whether a particular industry is the right fit for them. They strengthen their resumes, build confidence, and provide valuable hands-on technical experience. Just as importantly, students develop the communication, teamwork, and professionalism that employers value. It's a learning environment where they can explore career paths and gain exposure to industries they may never have considered otherwise,” Moses said.
Toward the end of the 10-week program, Herff hosted the 2026 Urban Fellows cohort for an immersive day designed to showcase engineering innovation, graduate education opportunities and pathways to impactful careers. Throughout the campus visit, participants engaged with university leadership, including University of Memphis President Bill Hardgrave and Herff College of Engineering Dean Okenwa Okoli, as well as other faculty members who shared insights into emerging research. Students also toured cutting-edge research laboratories at Herff, interacted with graduate students and explored how engineers address complex challenges facing communities throughout Memphis and beyond.
After all, the heart of any city government work is the service of its citizens. That’s a lesson Chinonso Okoli, a senior in Herff’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, learned firsthand by participating in a backpack donation drive benefiting grade-school students throughout Memphis.
“For me, it’s all about giving back to the community because, especially at City Hall, we’re pretty much doing things for the people of Memphis. We’re making sure they have what they need to live a successful life and make sure they’re safe,” Chinonso Okoli said. “It’s about giving back so people know that they’re appreciated and loved, that they’re cared for. So, it’s just helping them feel seen and knowing that in any situation they may come across, there is help.”
The Urban Fellows Program wraps up on Wednesday, August 5, with a final presentation ceremony. But regardless of where his future lies, mechanical engineering junior Ali Jaber feels that the program has better prepared him for any opportunity he may encounter.
“I’ve followed up with every single company we’ve been with. I always want to build relationships with everyone, create a bridge so they get to know me and I get to know them. I definitely want to make the most out of it. So, every time I got to a company, I make sure they know my name when I leave the room because you have to stand out sometimes,” Jaber said.
Next year’s cohort will mark the fifth year of the Urban Fellows Program. And while the 10-week intensive training internship may seem daunting to some students, Fifer encouraged anyone interested in the program or in obtaining an internship in general to walk into the situation with an open mind and their chest out.
“You deserve to be there,” Fifer said. “Don’t feel like you don’t deserve to be there, that you’re not good enough. You are good enough. You deserve to be there. Try your best. If you fall down, get back up. Just because you failed at one thing doesn’t mean you failed at everything. You can always get back up and try again. That’s for life as well, life in general. Just because you get knocked down one time doesn’t mean that you get to stay down. You can rise back up like a phoenix."