NORFOLK, Va. – Rising redshirt junior Omolayo Dada of the Norfolk State volleyball team has been selected to receive the Student Athlete in STEM Award at the 2012 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) ceremony.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Dada will be honored at BEYA's Student Leadership and Scholarship Awards dinner during the 26th annual BEYA STEM Global Competitiveness Conference on Feb. 17 in Philadelphia. The event is set to take place at 6 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown and will be co-hosted by Northrup Grumman Corp.

“I am very honored to get this award,” Dada said. “I was very, very surprised that they chose me to receive it. To be recognized nationally like this, I feel it is such a great achievement. I thank God every day that I am afforded the opportunity to be athlete and get an education at same time here at Norfolk State.”

A pre-med biology major, Dada has been a member of the NSU volleyball team the last two seasons. She redshirted in 2010 before appearing in three matches in 2011 during her redshirt sophomore season. Dada is on track to graduate from NSU in May 2013, at which point she will look to continue her education in medical school.

Adyosei Coker, a walk-on on the NSU football team, also earned the Student Athlete in STEM Award from BEYA this year. Both Coker and Dada will be recognized in the US Black Engineer and IT conference magazine as well.

Former football players Ryan Hathaway and Tory Williams and current Spartan Terrence Pugh all won the Student Athlete in STEM Award last spring. In addition, baseball player Cameron Day earned the Student Athlete in STEM Award from Women of Color at their Student Leadership and Scholarship Awards dinner in Dallas in the fall.

Along with Dada and Coker, volleyball's Nicole Kessner, softball's Morgan Boyd and track and field's Syeeda Gee were nominated for the award as well this year.