The ASCE Concrete Canoe team at the National Competition
2008 ASME moonbuggy team after winning NASA Competition
Charter class of the UE Chi Epsilon Chapter
Student Organizations under the Mechanical and Civil Engineering Department serve the purpose of supplementing the educational experience. Read below for a description of each student organization.
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. The mission of ASCE is to enhance the quality of life worldwide by advancing professional knowledge and improving the practice of civil engineering in service to humanity. Founded in 1852, ASCE has more than 120,000 members, including over 15,000 Student Members. ASCE sponsors specialty conferences and continuing education courses; provides the government with technical assistance on civil engineering related issues; conducts an active public awareness program; and is the largest publisher of civil engineering information in the world. Within the Society, there are over 500 technical and management committees working to advance the theory and practice of the profession.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineering was founded in 1880 as an educational and technical society. Today it is the largest and most prestigious Mechanical Engineering society in the world with over 115,000 members. As a member of the student section of ASME at the University of Evansville, mechanical engineering students have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities and services of this national organization. Upon graduation student members are eligible to upgrade their membership status to associate member and gain additional benefits. The local student organization participates in a variety of social and technical activities.
- Local section meetings
- Industrial tours
- Joint meetings with the local ASME parent section
- Attend and participate in regional and national ASME meetings
- Network with guest speakers from business and industry
- Gain leadership skills as an officer in the local Section
- Scholarship opportunities for upperclassmen
- Participate in the competition for the Allied Signal Award
The Allied Signal Contest is a regional competition of student ASME sections. The University of Evansville is in Region VI which includes all of Indiana, as well as major portions of Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky. Each student section is graded for the quality of their activities in the areas of membership development, meetings, trips, publications, social and special events, participation in the Regional Student Conference, as well as in the student honors and awards program of the Society. The ASME Student Section at the University of Evansville has won or placed second in the Allied Signal Competition 9 of the last 10 years. To achieve and maintain this distinction, the local Section actively promotes student member participation in a wide variety of activities.
Dedicated to the purpose of maintaining and promoting the status of civil engineering as an ideal profession, Chi-Epsilon was organized to recognize the characteristics of the individual civil engineer deemed to be fundamental to the successful pursuit of an engineering career, and to aid in the development of those characteristics in the civil engineering student. Engineering, the application of scientific principles to the practical needs of society, is assuming a constantly increasing responsibility for the well-being of all people, and thus calling for competence of the highest order. This responsibility can be discharged only by a professional group whose members are possessed of a good basic technical ability, intelligence, moral integrity, and effective social poise in their relationship with the larger community of which they are part. To contribute to the improvement of the profession, Chi Epsilon fosters the development and exercise of sound traits of character and technical ability among civil engineers, and its members, by precept and example, toward an ever higher standard of professional service.
Pi Tau Sigma is the national honorary fraternity for Mechanical Engineers. The fraternity was founded at the University of Illinois in 1915. The University of Evansville Phi Rho chapter was founded in 1986. The primary purpose of Pi Tau Sigma is to recognize those mechanical engineering students whose academic achievements, character, and attitude place them at the head of their class. Membership in Pi Tau Sigma is by invitation based on election by the active members of the chapter. To be eligible for consideration, a junior must rank in the upper 25% of the class and a senior must rank in the upper 35% of the class. Initiation into the UE chapter, with a one-time payment of national dues, makes one a lifetime member of Pi Tau Sigma. Pi Tau Sigma activities emphasize scholarship and service. Members have served as underclass tutors and often serve as guides and laboratory assistants for special events such as Engineering Open House. Pi Tau Sigma often co-sponsors activities such as tours and speakers with ASME.
Society of Automotive Engineers
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) was founded in 1905. SAE is a non-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to advancing mobility technology to better serve humanity. Nearly 70,000 engineers and scientists, who are SAE members, develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles including automobiles, trucks and buses, off-highway equipment, aircraft, aerospace vehicles, marine, rail, and transit systems. Mechanical engineering students at UE have been primarily involved in the SAE Mini-Baja competition. The Mini-Baja is a small ATV racer which uses an 8 HP Briggs & Stratton engine. Students design and build a chassis of their choice, but the engine cannot be modified. The competition consists of two parts: static and dynamic. The static events focus on how well the vehicle was engineered. The goal of the dynamic events is to determine which vehicle performs best on various off-road courses. The Mini-Baja is an annual competitions sponsored by SAE for engineering students. Approximately 70 engineering schools across North America compete in this activity.
The Society of Women Engineers is a national organization with student sections on each engineering campus. The section is an interdisciplinary organization with membership cutting across all the engineering disciplines and is also open to men who are interested in the mission and activities of the group. The mission of SWE is to encourage women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, to expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and to demonstrate the value of diversity.