New Community of Practice asks, "Why Did You Become an Engineer?"

Based on a recent poll on Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online (www.memagazine.org), the magazine's editors have set up a new forum in ASME.ORG's Communities of Practice (COP) area to delve into the fundamental question of why individuals become engineers.

The ASME Communities of Practice site (https://cop.asme.org/COP/Public/Home) is a Web networking tool to communicate with engineers of similar interests and concerns. The COP Web site enables visitors to join a community, search for community member, suggest a new community, participate in discussions and polls, post messages, and request to be notified when messages are posted on the community.

The new Mechanical Engineering magazine COP (http://cop.asme.org/COP/MechanicalEngineeringMagazine) was created as a follow-up to the magazine's March online Question of the Month survey that asked readers why they decided to pursue a career in engineering. In that survey, nearly half the respondents said they did so because they liked "creating and building things."

The new M.E. Community of Practice provides an opportunity to share more of your views on the engineering profession. Besides, "Why did you become an engineer?" the magazine wants to know:

• Are you happy you did become an engineer?

• Are you working in engineering or a related job now, or are you doing something different?

• What would you tell someone considering a career in engineering?

You can answer anonymously if you'd like, or you can provide contact information — which will not be published — if you will allow a magazine editor to contact you for a follow-up article on the topic, to be published in Mechanical Engineering later this year.

If the visit marks your first visit to the ASME Communities of Practice, you will need to register. The site is open to both ASME members and nonmembers, although access to some specific Communities is limited to ASME members.

To register or log on, visit https://cop.asme.org/COP/Public/Home.

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