IMechE and ASME: when global engineering institutions meet, students win

Global engineering institutions like the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) provide student members with excellent opportunities. And when those institutions work together, the benefits go even further.

“As global organisations, there’s real potential for IMechE and ASME to work together on a wide variety of projects” says Sandra Mulligan, Institution of Mechanical Engineers' business development manager for Scotland.

Along with the Institution's president, ASME’s CEO and other key participants, Sandra attended a high-profile meeting between the two organisations in Glasgow on June 10 as part of the Ocean, Offshore & Arctic Engineering conference.  

The meeting saw both organisations’ representatives talk about the potential for collaboration on student projects, building on their strengths in running international challenge competitions in particular. For example, Thomas Costabile, ASME’s CEO, explained how the institutions are now working together to plan “a student competition event for the fall/winter” in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde. 

What’s more, Sandra points out that closer collaboration between the institutions could facilitate student exchanges, “with IMechE student placements in the USA and vice versa”.  And, the indications are that this will be a growing partnership too.

^{Joe McGeough, IMechE President (far left)} 

Joe McGeough, President of the IMechE noted that there is now a “memorandum of understanding for ASME and IMechE Society collaboration”. For student members of both institutions, this will only serve to provide further benefits from joining up – especially given that IMechE membership is free for undergraduates. 

The event was a roundtable discussion, where audience members could ask how the organisations would work together and learnt about the benefits of membership. Sandra noted that the roundtable was “great for getting feedback from the next generation of students and what they want going forward”. The institutions also used the opportunity to talk about strategies for growing interest in engineering among younger audiences.  

With two global engineering membership organisations planning to work more closely together, opportunities for students – and indeed all members – will only grow.