New ASME President: Future is
'extremely bright' for engineers

During his inaugural speech last month at ASME's Summer Annual Meeting, ASME's new President Terry E. Shoup, noting that the future of the engineering profession was "extremely bright," said that engineers are uniquely positioned to meet the many challenges facing the world today, including energy availability, water quality, and security.

Shoup, a resident of San Jose, Calif., and professor of mechanical engineering at Santa Clara University, Calif., took office as the 125th president of ASME during the meeting, which was held in San Francisco. Shoup will serve a one-year term as president of the Society.

Shoup's optimism regarding the prospects for ASME and the engineering profession was evident as he addressed a gathering of ASME leadership on June 20.

Richard E. (Gene) Feigel (left), ASME president for 2005–06, welcomes the Society's new president, Terry E. Shoup, at the Summer Annual Meeting last month.

"It is a great time to be alive and working in the engineering profession," Shoup said. "Never in recorded history has the need for what engineers have to offer been as critical as it is today. Engineers hold the technological keys that will unlock the barriers to our success.

"You and I have some challenges of global proportion that we must engage as the focus of our professional lives," Shoup continued. "Meeting these challenges calls upon us to think of ourselves not just as mechanical engineers, but also as engineering professionals who are able to move across the disciplinary boundaries. Meeting these challenges callus upon us to think of ourselves as not just mechanical engineers working for a particular organization or company in a particular community, but rather as part of a global workforce that can make the world a better place."

He called for ASME to continue its leadership in global technical standards, support of K-12 education programs, and its role as a resource on technical issues for government decision makers. In his speech, Shoup cited the Society's "reputation for value" and the role of ASME volunteers and staff in upholding that reputation.

ASME President Terry Shoup called the future of ASME and the engineering profession 'extremely bright' during his inaugural address.

Shoup has more than 35 years of experience in engineering education. He began his academic career in 1969, when he joined the faculty of Rutgers University as an assistant professor. After leaving Rutgers in 1976, he moved on to teaching and high-level administrative posts at the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, and Florida Atlantic University, before joining Santa Clara University in 1989.

A registered professional engineer in the state of Ohio, Shoup has also worked as a design engineer and a consultant to industry, academia, and government. He has written more than 100 papers on mechanical design and applied mechanics, and is co-author of "Design of Machine Elements," which had its eighth edition printed by Prentice-Hall in 2004.

Shoup is a Fellow of ASME and former member of the Society's Board of Governors. During his 37 years of membership in ASME, he has served in leadership positions on the ASME Council on Education, in technical divisions, K-12 activities, and initiatives aimed at young engineers.

"During the coming year, we will focus our attention on meeting the needs of early-career engineers, because these people are the future of ASME and the future of our profession," Shoup noted during his speech.

Shoup is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the ASME Gustus Larson Award for outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering and the Council on Education's Distinguished Service Award, as well as the Dow Outstanding Young Faculty Award of the American Society for Engineering Education. He also is the recipient of the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Ohio State University. Shoup attended Ohio State from 1962 through 1969, where he earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering.

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