Weiblen becomes 120th president

Emily M. Smith
ASME NEWS

NEW ORLEANS — Installed here last month as the 120th president of ASME, William A. Weiblen, P.E., sought to position the Society for the challenges of this new century by explaining how its ability to manage change will be the key to its future success.

With the advent of nanotechnology and molecular devices, Weiblen said during the President''s Dinner, mechanical engineers are finding themselves in an era "where the lines truly blur between what our imagination proposes and what reality imposes."

Weiblen reminded his audience of approximately 150 Society officers and guests that, historically, the business ventures that experience the greatest success "are those that constantly reinvent themselves and display the youth and entrepreneurial spirit of a newly established enterprise."

For ASME, that means not only responding quickly to new shifts in business environments but expanding on the kinds of relationships that built the foundation of ASME, namely industry participation.

ASME president William A. Weiblen is flanked by John R. Parker, immediate past president, and Susan H. Skemp, president-nominee.

Industry participation in ASME conferences and expositions can be expanded, Weiblen said, "by demonstrating to managers that their investment in having employees attend our conferences and expositions will provide a greater return to them than all the other business opportunities competing for those resources."

Support for that expansion of ASME's relationship with industry can be found in the membership, Weiblen said. Therefore, he said, it is paramount that members — all mechanical engineers, in fact — see ASME as the "Go To" organization for obtaining the highest quality professional development products and services and for upgrading their technical or other work-related skills so that their careers will continue to flourish.

Because new technologies are accelerating the pace of change, Weiblen said that ASME's "ability to continually execute decisions must be swift and agile. Our size and scale of operation must provide strength and strategic flexibility. Our role as ASME's leaders in this environment of change is to make a difference in the lives and careers of our members.

"Members expect us to show the same bold and creative leadership as their employers expect of them," Weiblen said. "How can we expect to help them stay on the cutting edge if we are not there ourselves?"

ASME has already taken the first steps toward that bold, creative leadership, Weiblen said. He cited ASME's in-process transformation to a knowledge-based organization that uses knowledge about the internal and external issues affecting its daily operations to make decisions and establish a course of action.

Knowledge-based organizations are characterized by their ability to replace the status quo with prudent and informed risk-taking, Weiblen told the audience. They are characterized by their ability to reward results and outcomes in addition to loyalty and hard work, he said.

The leaders of knowledge-based groups are chosen for their expertise and ability to think critically and analytically, and their desire to be agents of change. And the members of such groups are valued for their insight, their ideas and their problem-solving skills.

"We have already applied many of these knowledge-based concepts to our nanotechnology initiative with great success," Weiblen added. "Now, we need to apply these lessons to other areas of the Society."

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