Once a year a new president steps in and, like those before me, I welcome the opportunity to continue our leadership efforts in remaining a responsive, agile, society that serves its members and remains a vital voice for the profession. I welcome the opportunity to lead with the Board of Governors and the many volunteers who give so much to our Society.

In one way or another, we’ve all experienced the economic pressures and uncertainties of today’s world. ASME is faced with helping engineers stay in the workforce longer, because they can’t yet retire, and also it supports science and engineering education to relieve a growing workforce gap in new engineers entering the profession. Moreover, we have all heard the calls for action for more sustainable development so that the Earth and future generations prosper as we wish to prosper today. ASME has identified strategic directions in energy, engineering workforce development, and globalization. This means that we have to look at design and business models differently, and that to be competitive means to look for new methods of collaboration and new ways to integrate these competitive markets. 

Voluntary consensus standards are at the heart of the global economy, helping to reduce barriers to commercialization and encouraging global trade. ASME recognizes a long heritage of excellence in standards setting, technological advancement and knowledge sharing, and it is through its standards activities that ASME owes much of its solid standing and recognition around the world. At the 2009 Annual Meeting this past month, ASME held a special celebration of its 125th anniversary of Codes and Standards. As engineers, we know that our standards system promotes public safety and reliability, just as it enhances the competitive nature of industry.  Voluntary standards serve not only as means that makes this possible, but they also serve as a model for the type of global cooperation that can be achieved.

Today’s engineering world is very complex, particularly in dealing with global regulatory systems. And our educational systems, which have undergone tremendous changes themselves through technology and emerging industries, are working diligently to prepare the next generation. However, we need to identify what directions will best serve the next generation and how to implement those changes in both the workplace and in the curriculums.

ASME’s voice remains vital because it works hard at listening, responding, and focusing its resources in directions that benefit humanity. To get to where we need to be and want to be we need a culture that gives birth to breakthrough innovation. I think we’re ready to take that and run with it. We are opening up to the possibilities.

I have learned that it is often not what you tell people that makes a difference. It’s what you ask them. Albert Einstein said, always ask questions: “Curiosity has its own reasons.” Sometimes we need clarity; sometimes we need deeper levels of understanding and to be more receptive to new ideas. Curiosity improves the quality of life. That’s an engineer’s role.

Asking the right questions is very challenging work. I see a key element of the work of the Board of Governors is to be better informed about its markets and its strategies. This effort makes it possible to be more focused, to get to the meaty questions and to add transparency to our work. Transparency implies communication that encourages participation. It is how we manage incremental changes in our processes. It helps remove misconceptions and barriers and foster progress.

There are many reasons to keep this in mind as we talk about our strategies and projects. I’d like to see progress on a few key projects that have long-range implications for the Society and our world. These ideas are not new, but they require our attention and our action. Externally, there are the three strategies that are and will be significant for decades to come. These are, of course, the energy grand challenge, engineering workforce development and globalization.  

My request to ASME leadership and members is to participate in our continued search for solutions, because we’ve involved a great many people in a lot of research and study. Let’s not lose momentum. My questions are:
• Are we understanding these areas fully? Only by further discussion can we be sure.
• Are we including the right people in the discussion, not just the regular players? Only through inclusiveness and diversity in thought and backgrounds can we be sure.
• Are we creating a culture that is open to breakthrough technologies? Only by ensuring that we can continue to process those ideas in thoughtful and constructive ways can we be sure.  

Framing the dialogue accurately and in a global context is important. Learning from experience is often difficult but there is an old adage that you have to learn from others’ mistakes too because you won’t have time to make them all by yourself. ASME is here to create the networks you need, in any way you feel it can serve your needs.

As president, I expect to be a focal point for learning how we want to take the next steps in our strategies and in fulfilling our vision. As always, the aim is for ASME to be the essential resource for realizing solutions that benefit humankind. I only ask that the dialogue be open and inclusive, with grounding in ASME’s vision to be an essential resource and in its mission to serve our diverse global communities.

Admiral Hyman Rickover said, “Thoughts arising from practical experience may be a bridle or a spur.” And the purpose and wise application of both is what I hope to see as ASME leadership and members work together.

—Amos E. Holt, ASME President