PROGRAM-YEAR REVIEW REVEALS PROGRESS

In a year that has been marked by notable world events and continued struggles in economic recovery, this program-year for ASME has experienced a range of challenges, successes, and especially pride in our Society for what it has accomplished. And I’m particularly excited about the expectations and future of ASME.   

To start with, ASME’s strategic priorities have never been more on target and we have made significant progress in each of these areas. We are a key part of conversations about energy, which is central to so many of today’s global issues, and the engineering workforce development arena continues to expand the reach of many important precollege education initiatives.

ASME is also growing globally, especially in student membership outside the United States and internationally. In fact, we’re almost five percent ahead of last year’s growth in this area. We also have boosted our global partnerships in the area of energy standards. ASME continues to build collaborative partnerships with other societies, academia, and industry. These collaborations are key to understanding and developing business models that enable us to continue to stay flexible and responsive as a Society.

Only through diversity in thought and backgrounds can we be sure to understand today’s industry trends and demands. We have sought to incorporate innovation into each of our strategies, with a call to engineers to be bold in their thinking. Here are just a few highlights begun this year that touch all the areas we’ve identified as important to members and industry:

Engineering for Change officially launched this year and is growing with more than 90 active workspaces and over 4,000 registered members since March. E4C has an exciting database-driven library of engineering solutions addressing critical development and humanitarian challenges from all over the world. Additionally, it also offers an excellent opportunity for ASME and its members to further expand and contribute engineering solutions in the humanitarian space. I invite you to visit the site at engineeringforchange.org, register, and participate in this exciting endeavor.

I am especially excited about ASME being host of Engineers Week 2012, along with corporate co-chair Battelle — planning is already well underway. As you start your plans for E-Week 2012, like career days, competition support, onsite industry tours, recognition events, participation in the global marathon or other E-Week activities, be sure that in this next year you carry the message of your our own passion for the profession and why engineering is so essential to everyone’s future.

Our website, ASME.org, was re-launched this past March, marking completion of the first phase of its redesign. The new ASME.org reflects a new “engineering-centric” change in how ASME attracts new visitors to our site. I love the clean, open look of it and its great potential to be the online destination for engineers.

Internally to ASME, several improvements also come to mind: the continued development of ASME’s digital library, the implementation of the revised policy on conferences, and also of note, the continued improvements within our sectors’ infrastructure.

I look forward to seeing further developments in each of our initiatives. And I hope we continue our dialog about how we intend to diversify our leadership, plan the succession of leaders throughout the ASME network, and promote greater interaction and cross-sector collaboration among our members. ASME’s strength is its access to the diverse global network of our membership and the knowledge we share. My thanks go to all the Society officers and volunteers that I have had the joy of working with over this past year. Your passion and energy keeps ASME on a path to carry out its mission to communicate the excitement of engineering.

As I said a year ago, we can expect great things for ASME and our profession by keeping our true bearings as a team. I am convinced that emerging challenges will continue to draw out the very best in our ASME crew, and we’ll be better prepared for those opportunities. Let’s continue to harness the power of this dedicated, diverse and seasoned crew.

—Robert T. Simmons, ASME President