Robert E. Luna, Ph.D., PE

When you talk to colleagues about ASME, they often ask "What's in it for me?' Here's a consultant's viewpoint on the value of membership.

I have belonged to ASME for 35 years. I joined because I believed then, as I still do, that every engineering professional should belong to his or her professional society. In my career as a salaried engineer and manager ASME has provided opportunities for technical information exchange, fellowship, and networking at both local and national levels. I didn't recognize these as benefits of ASME membership at the time; they were just there. However, after I retired two years ago and became an independent consultant, it was clear that these same benefits are key ingredients in making a success of my new career path. Shortly after I retired, an ASME colleague initiated a short duration contract that blossomed into a longer-term arrangement. My ASME network has provided contacts and interactions that have lead to contracts that are a third to a half of my client base.

Anyone who is a mechanical engineering professional need to invest the money to join ASME and invest whatever time he or she can to participate in local, regional and national activities. That effort is an investment and it will pay off in the future.