The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering. The ASME was founded in 1880 by Alexander Lyman Holley, Henry Rossiter Worthington, John Edison Sweet and Matthias N. Forney in response to numerous steam boiler pressure vessel failures. The organization is known for setting codes and standards for mechanical devices. The ASME conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations through its ASME Press, holds numerous technical conferences and hundreds of professional development courses each year, and sponsors numerous outreach and educational programs.

The organization's stated vision is to be the premier organization for promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences to the diverse communities throughout the world. Its stated mission is to promote and enhance the technical competency and professional well-being of its members, and through quality programs and activities in mechanical engineering, better enable its practitioners to contribute to the well-being of humankind. As of 2006, the ASME has 120,000 members.

Core values include:

• Embrace integrity and ethical conduct
• Embrace diversity and respect the dignity and culture of all people
• Nurture and treasure the environment and our natural and man-made resources
• Facilitate the development, dissemination and application of engineering knowledge
• Promote the benefits of continuing education and of engineering education
• Respect and document engineering history while continually embracing change
• Promote the technical and societal contribution of engineers

[edit] ASME Codes and Standards

ASME is one of the oldest standards-developing organizations in the world. It produces approximately 600 codes and standards, covering many technical areas, such as boiler components, elevators, measurement of fluid flow in closed conduits, cranes, hand tools, fasteners, and machine tools.

Note that:

• A Standard can be defined as a set of technical definitions and guidelines that function as instructions for designers, manufacturers, operators, or users of equipment.
• A standard becomes a Code when it has been adopted by one or more governmental bodies and is enforceable by law, or when it has been incorporated into a business contract.

[edit] The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC)

The largest ASME standard, both in size and in the number of volunteers involved in its preparation, is the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC). BPVC is a standard that provides rules for the design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels. It is reviewed every three years. The BPVC consists of twelve volumes.

[edit] Notable members

• Abdul Rahman Al-Athel
• Nancy D. Fitzroy.^[1]
• Alexander C. Monteith
• John I. Yellott
• Hugh Pembroke Vowles
• Samuel T. Wellman

[edit] ASME Student Professional Development Conference (SPDC)

The Student Professional Development Conference or SPDC is a conference that is run and maintained by ASME. The purpose for the conference is to allow students to network with other students from different colleges and engineers that are out in the work field, host competitive student contests, and gives them the opportunity to see what ASME can do for them professionally. Conferences are held in ten different districts with each district representing a certain section. Districts A-F are held in North America, District G is in Asia and Australia, District H includes most of Europe, District I is in Central and South America, and District J covers the MIddle East and parts of Africa. The location for each district changes every year and colleges attend the conference that is closest to them.^[2]

[edit] ASME Student Competitions

There are five competitions held at each conference and they are:

• Young Engineer Paper Award Competition

Best paper submitted to the Fluid Engineering Department Young Engineer Paper Contest Committee. Several hundred papers are submitted annually to the FED department of ASME and 5 finalists are selected to present their research at the Annual ASME Conference and the #1 spot is given during the Fluid Engineering Award Ceremony at the conference. All the finalists papers are published in the conference proceedings and also receive finalists plaques. ^[3]

• Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition
• Old Guard Technical Poster Competition
• Technical Web Page Competition
• Student Design Competition

Each competition has its own set of rules and prizes. The Student Design Competition allows engineering students to showcase their abilities, engineering knowledge, and creativity. Every year a problem statement is put up on the ASME SDC website which states the problem that must be solved and the various constraints that go along with it. The first-place team at each district is then invited to compete in an international competition held at ASME's International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE).^[4]

[edit] Organization

Following the reorganization of the ASME during the Continuity and Change process,^[when?] volunteer activity was organized into five sectors. Each sector is led by a volunteer Senior Vice President who reports directly to the Board of Governors.

1) Centers
Senior Vice President: Robert Luna
Mission: Support the growth, vitality and diversity of mechanical and multi-disciplinary engineering, to cultivate future leaders, and to celebrate the contribution of engineers to the well-being of humankind.
Groups (Centers) within Centers are led by Vice Presidents:

• a) Education: Robert Warrington
• b) Leadership and Diversity: May Lynn Realff
• c) Professional Development: Betty Bowersox
• d) Public Awareness: Vincent Wilczynski

2) Codes & Standards
Senior Vice President: Bernard E. Hrubala
Mission: The Codes and Standards Board of Directors under the direction of the Board of Governors, will supervise the activities of the Society relating to Codes and Standards.
Groups (Boards) within Codes & Standards are led by Vice Presidents:
a) Codes & Standards Operations: Kenneth R. Balkey, PE
b) Conformity Assessment (BCA): Paul D. Edwards
c) Hearings and Appeals: Bradley D. Closson
d) Nuclear Codes and Standards: Bryan A. Erler, PE
e) New Development: Anthony P. Cirillo
f) Pressure Technology Codes and Standards: Louis E. Hayden Jr , PE
g) Safety Codes and Standards: Robert E. Albert
h) Standardization and Testing: Joseph W. Milton, PE
i) Committee on Strategic Planning and Performance: Bernard E. Hrubala

3) Institutes
Senior Vice President: David Wisler
Mission: Providing a focused arena for business activities relevant to identified technical, educational or technological endeavors is the underlying purpose of ASME’s Institutes area.
Groups (Institutes) within Institutes are led by Vice Presidents:
a) International Gas Turbine: Dilip Ballal
b) International Petroleum Technology: Terry Lechinger
c) Continuing Education
d) Engineering Management Certification International
e) Emerging Technologies

4) Knowledge & Community
Senior Vice President: Richard Laudenat
Mission: The K&C Sector is designed to provide an organizational and management structure for over 800 member units. The entire K & C structure serves as a resource and platform for enabling the member units
Groups (Communities) within Knowledge & Community are led by Vice Presidents:
a) Affinity: Justin Young
b) Financial Operations: Lawrence A. Kielasa
c) Global: Thomas Libertiny
d) Programs & Activities: John W. Wesner, PE
e) Technical: Dan Segalman

5) Strategic Management
Senior Vice President: Robert Pangborn
Mission: The Strategic Management Sector Board of Directors (SMBOD) under the direction of the Board of Governors, is responsible for the activities of the Society relating to identification, capture and transfer of knowledge that will support ASME’s strategies for the technical innovation and advocacy of public policies that are important to advancement of industry and the profession. The units of the Sector include the Board on Government Relations, the Industry Advisory Board, the Strategic Initiatives and Innovation Committee and the Strategic Issues Committee. The operation guide defines the voting members, election of sector leadership, committee duties, meetings and records.

Groups (Boards) within Knowledge & Community are led by a Vice President, Members-at-Large, and Committee Chairs:

• a) Member-at-Large: Susan Ipri-Brown
• b) Member-at-Large: Elizabeth Kisenwether
• c) Vice President, Government Relations: Michael Reischman
• d) Chair, Strategic Issues: Win Phillips
• e) Chair, Strategic Initiatives and Innovation: Chris Przirembel
• f) Chair, Industry Advisory Board: Charla Wise

[edit] See also

• ASME Y14.41-2003 Digital Product Definition Data Practices
• List of ASME Presidents
• List of historic mechanical engineering landmarks

[edit] References

• White, John H., Jr. (1968). A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880. Dover Publications, New York, NY. ISBN 0-486-23818-0.
• Frederick Remson Hutton (1915) A History of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ASME.

[edit] External links

• ASME.org
  • ASME Peerlink Website

• Outline of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
  • by EngineeringToolBox.com
  • by IHS Inc.
• An ASME Code discussion forum for all Code related questions
• Click here to download the following introductory PDFs on ASME codes:
  • An Introduction to Codes & Standards for Students
  • ASME Codes & Standards - Examples of Code Use for Mechanical Engineering Students
• A Brief History of ASME
• A Sense of the Past by Eugene Ferguson (1974)
• Writing ASME's History by Bruce Sinclair (1980)
• Old Guard Oral Presentation Information
• Old Guard Technical Poster Information
• Technical Web Page Information
• Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code - 2007 Edition
• ASME Mechanical Engineering Technology Department Heads Committee records 1980-1994 - Northeastern University Libraries