2015 Issue

38 Abstract— Most, if not all, engineering societies are experiencing difficulty retaining American members. Membership growth is dominantly overseas. This article outlines the important role played by engi- neering societies in building modern American technology and argues that returning to past professional society leadership is the best path to rejuvenating American engineering. Keywords: professional societies, leadership, careers, history of science and technology I. INTRODUCTION The topic of maintaining and increasing societymembership is fore- most in the leadership of a local section of any engineering society, because professional societies have declining domestic member- ship levels. Typically section leadership replies to this membership challenge with handouts promoting the value of low cost life insurance, local net- working opportunities, and reduced cost access to society publications. Evidence clearly shows that this approach is not effective, because these approaches do not address the bread and butter career issues such as outsourcing, temporary H1-B labor, massive layoffs, cuts in federal investment and employers’ reliance upon certifications rather than degrees, dilution of themeaningof “engineer”, and the fear of losing the current job. The purpose of this article is to answer the challenge of describing personal benefits of membership in any professional society. The answer will be pro- vided in the historical perspective of the profession of engineering, and the article will highlight changes in public attitudes towards engineering since the end of the 19th century (The end of the 19th century was a period of American economic growth coined “the Gilded Age” by Mark Twain known for “robber barons” and the rise of unions.); it will outline political forces that arose over recent decades; and, finally it will contrast the course of engineering to other professions. In conclusion, this article will explain that “going back to the future” to the original concepts underlying the role of engineering societies is the best marketing vehicle for regaining traction in the societies. II. ENGINEERING IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY A. Engineering was not a gentleman’s profession Engineering before 1900 was essentially managing skilled trades- men [2]. Engineering at the time was primarily engaged in mining and earthworks such as canals; what becamemechanical engineer- ing was building boilers; electrical power distribution was minimal [17]. Educators at many universities were physicists [9] . The study of mechanical engineering at MIT was formalized as a department in 1883 with emphasis on marine, locomotive and mill engineering [19]. The department of electrical Engineering at MIT was formed in 1902 [20]. Purdue University athletics was given the name “boiler maker” as a pejorative reference to the brutish element of engi- neering at the time[1]. President Herbert Hoover related a story of how a fellow passenger on a transatlantic cross asked his business to which the future president replied that he was an engineer, and that passenger’s reply is self-explanatory [4]: These early years of engineering cultivated an uncultured image of the engineer that still endures today. Most people cannot distin- guish an engineer from those engaged in allied technical functions. In 1905, Andrew Carnegie donated 1.5 million dollars towards building a “union home” (Carnegie’s own words) for the engineers in New York. The building was built around the need to house an engineering library and to seek benefits of cooperation in the already expanding fields within engineering. This group became a corporate entity through New York legislation. It was known as United Engineering Society, but it was made up of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (now IEEE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Institute of Mining Engi- By Daniel N. Donahoe, 1000kilometes® “I hope you will forgive my dreadful curiosity, but I should like awfully to know—what is your profession?” I replied that I was an engineer. She emitted an involuntary exclamation, and “Why, I thought you were a gentleman!” Benefits of Joining Engineering Societies