Need to Jump-Start Your ASME Student Section? Try This!
Building a Successful Section Through Creativity, Inspiration and Fun
By Brandon D. Chase

Although the fruits of student membership in the ASME are rich, varied, and of unparalleled benefit to those preparing for a career in mechanical engineering, many students walk the halls of ME departments lacking a precise notion of what the ASME is, and how they can benefit from it. Fortunately, many in the know (i.e., current student members), are willing, and even eager, to spread the word about the advantages of membership, such as access to industry tours and professional speakers, opportunities to network locally, nationally, and internationally, chances to participate in a variety of design competitions, and social events that bring students and faculty together in casual settings.

Hoping to attract new ASME student members, current members Marty Lawson (left) and Ricky Riyadi, show off their Purdue University Robotics Design Contest winning entries at a student section recruiting event.

Despite these advantages, the task of recruiting students is not easy. ASME student sections compete for the attention of potential members with a host of other on-campus clubs, activities, and organizations. And college campuses are exciting places, so it falls to existing student members to ensure that the benefits of membership are heard above the din.

To achieve this, successful sections keep their focus on providing a variety of relevant and engaging activities against the backdrop of a fun environment. As ME senior and student section chair at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., Kwee Yan Teh puts it, ?The key to attracting members is to cater to their interests and needs, be it design, outreach, personal, professional, or career development.?

That simple idea led Penn State University (PSU), State College, to create a student-mentoring program which, has proved to be one of its most successful recruiting devices. Engineering students at PSU declare their majors at the end of their sophomore year, which can leave freshmen and sophomore engineering students feeling somewhat removed from the specific fields they plan to enter. Penn State?s ASME student section helps bridge this gap by matching mechanical engineering upperclassmen with engineering freshmen and sophomores.

?Mentoring gets students involved with the chapter early on, and lets them answer some other questions for which they might otherwise not have a place to go,? says Brian Pandya, programs chair and ME junior at PSU. Through the mentoring program, upperclassmen can give advice on popular electives, dynamic professors, academic options within a major, as well as offer reassurance from someone who has walked the same path.

?Off-the-Record Stuff?
?We can sort of tell them off-the-record stuff which they otherwise couldn?t hear from their adviser,? says Pandya. ?It works out well. We receive a lot of positive feedback from the people involved in it.? The program reaches roughly 60 underclassmen each year as it helps PSU retain its sizable membership of 250.

Another large draw for the PSU section is a monthly, themed student/faculty luncheon, which brings students and faculty together in a relaxed atmosphere. ?It?s very laid-back,? says Pandya. Students have the opportunity to meet professors from the department and ask them anything from current research interests, to graduate school options. The luncheon also allows professors to receive feedback from students. ?It?s a chance to build some community within the department,? says Pandya.

Penn State's ASME student section programs chairman Brian Pandya (holding folder) at a mentoring picnic for freshmen.  Pandya credits the mentoring program with being one of his section's most successful recruiting initiatives.

A third highlight at PSU is their sponsorship of dancers who participate in an annual 48-hour-long dance marathon to raise money for children with cancer. This event does not draw hordes of new members, but it does bring in a few, while at the same time supporting a good cause and publicizing the section.

The Banner-Event Method
Nor is the need for banner events capable of drawing significant student attention lost on the Purdue student section, which boasts an impressive membership of 400. At the beginning of each semester, for example, the Purdue section draws attention by displaying two of its flashiest contest entries?a Grand Prix go-cart and a Rube Goldberg machine?in front of the engineering building.

The Grand Prix race, a springtime sensation at Purdue, is the culminating event for the many student organizations that enter the competition each year. ?It is a huge event for a whole week,? says section chair Teh, ?because it signifies the end of the semester, and is something students look forward to.?

The national Rube Goldberg competition held annually at Purdue, challenges students to build unnecessarily complex machines to perform a simple task such as shutting off an alarm clock. This contest?s premise is based on the work of late cartoonist Rube Goldberg.

In conjunction with these displays, which, says Teh, ?work great as recruiting tools,? the section sets out ASME membership applications.

Northeastern University's ASME student section officers take a moment off from their recruiting activitites.  They are (left to right) Moe Khalil, co-president; Tim Goddard, senior advisor, and Desiree Blais, co-president.

If this approach doesn?t work, there is always Purdue?s semiannual student/faculty mixer held at a local pub. At this low-key event, open to all mechanical engineering students, the ASME and mechanical engineering honorary fraternity Pi Tau Sigma provide hors d?oeuvres and the opportunity for some off-campus relaxation.

?It?s another way to encourage social interaction between students and faculty, and it is highly effective,? says Teh. ?It usually draws a large number of students into ASME.?

The Free-Stuff Method
Meanwhile, for two consecutive years, the student section at Northeastern University (NEU), Boston, Mass., has availed itself of assistance from ASME in support of its member-recruiting efforts. When preparing for NEU?s annual engineering open house?which introduces incoming freshmen to the college of engineering and to the various engineering societies?ME senior and ASME student section co-chair Timothy Goddard approached ASME International?s student coordinator, Deidra Hackley, requesting donations to raffle off during the event. Hackley gladly complied, contributing free memberships and several tools embossed with the ASME logo.

?We are always trying to help student sections with their recruitment and to show them that we are here if they need us,? says Hackley, who is based at ASME?s headquarters in New York. She also provided NEU with brochures explaining, among other engineering distinctions, the difference between mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology degrees. ?The brochures have been very helpful to some of our undecided students,? says Goddard. Another attraction at this year?s open house table was programmable robots built from Lego kits, used to present and demonstrate basic mechanical engineering concepts.

In addition to NEU?s general engineering open house, the ASME section held its own event for first-year students interested in mech- anical engineering, which provided another opportunity for students to get answers about mechanical engineering generally and about NEU?s program in particular. Through these assorted programs this smaller school has built a section 70 members strong.

The Fun Method
At Texas Tech, Lubbock, the ASME student section doesn?t waste any time in beginning its recruiting program. At the start of each semester, this section strategically places a table in the hallway of the engineering building, at which it sells T-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts and encourages students to join or renew their memberships. The biggest draw to the table is engineering paper featuring both ASME and Texas Tech logos; every student needs it and the section sells it cheaper than the bookstore.

But perhaps this section stands out most for its knack at keeping activities fun. By recently adding impromptu design contests to some meetings, this section has increased their entertainment value and participation levels. At one recent meeting, for example, straws, paper plates, rubber bands, and other ordinary items were distributed, and teams were challenged to build structures capable of suspending a Coke can four feet above the ground for a given amount of time.

?It was a neat problem-solving exercise,? says ME senior Talana Overton, who is the fund-raising chair for the section.

This student section also takes time to play, perhaps organizing a trip to watch the local minor-league hockey team or scrimmaging other engineering societies in softball, football, and even paintball. ?Some members had played [paintball] before and we got to talking about how it is a lot of fun, so we decided to organize a trip,? says Overton. It was a success, and they have returned several times since, challenging the petroleum engineers, civil engineers, and electrical engineers.

Whatever the activity, says Overton, involvement is key. ?We try to get everybody involved and make it a fun organization by providing reasons to become a member, and giving everyone the opportunity to get to know each other beyond just studying together.?

Spreading the Word
Without a doubt, interesting and informative activities form the core of a strong student section, but they are valuable only insofar as students are aware of their opportunities and can easily access them. Newsletters, flyers, e-mail, and booths in engineering buildings are all effective ways of publicizing student section activities. The Penn State and Purdue sections use an innovative publicity approach by projecting images advertising their section meetings, or by making short presentations in classrooms immediately prior to lectures.

?It is crucial to mention all our activities to incoming students so that they know we have a wide variety of activities to choose from,? says Purdue?s Teh. ?That gives them a better chance of finding something they are interested in and joining the organization.?

And that?s what it?s all about.

Brandon D. Chase is a Portland Ore.-based freelance writer.