Finding the True Heart of ASME

Spring 2005 finds ASME quickly approaching the conclusion of Phase II: Transition of our Continuity and Change reorganization process. ASME 's Heritage Day (April 7) brings us back to the site of ASME's first organizational meeting at Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, N.J.

Not only are we looking back to celebrate all that ASME has achieved in the past 125 years, but we are also looking forward. Imagining the next 125 years of mechanical engineering should inspire us with ideas about the contributions our engineers and organization can make to society in the future. Realizing those contributions will be enhanced by the professional growth of our individual members and the collaborative growth of our organization. Seeding that future growth is a major component of Continuity and Change.

Collaboration and growth were recurring themes of last month's Technology Executives Conference. How can ASME's technical and grassroots communities work together in a more effective and cooperative manner, combine their assets and further the professional development of our members and the overall goals of the Society? What would our founding members in the 1880s have made of such questions? Could they have imagined the complex, volatile, competitive, integrated world we now live in? One wonders.

Furthering our own current understanding of ASME's future is the focus of our Regional Administrative Conferences (RACs). This year's RACs, the traditional vehicles through which our grassroots leaders and members gain invaluable training, are aimed at providing a deeper definition and fuller scope of the Continuity and Change process and its impact on individual sections.

Questions about geographical alignments, appropriations, technical alliances and communication will be addressed, along with a host of other issues. Helping ASME leaders to better understand the strategic objectives set by the Board of Governors, and focusing on critical issues to better serve members and customers are essential to the Continuity and Change process. For a full briefing on these issues, please review the Continuity and Change Web site at www.asme.org/change.

I believe in ASME's future because it delivers benefits to humankind and its members. Those benefits are the result of the talents and efforts of our volunteers and their partnership with staff. The benefits ASME delivers to our members range from the tangible (conferences, short courses and insurance coverage) to the intangible (networking and lifelong friendships). It is that combination of benefits and collaborative partnership that uniquely defines ASME and has made it a benchmark of organizational excellence for 125 years.

— Harry Armen
ASME President

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