8 Questions with ASME President Bryan A. Erler

Bryan A. Erler, P.E., is the 139th president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, serving the 2020-2021 term. Erler, an ASME Fellow, has taken on several Society roles, including the Board of Governors; various codes and standards committees; and chair of ASME’s Boiler and Pressure Vessel Section III Division 2. He also chaired the Board of Nuclear Codes and Standards and served as ASME secretary/treasurer. An executive and expert in the nuclear power industry, Erler retired from Sargent & Lundy in 2003, where he was owner and senior vice president for 18 years.

Q1: What has been your lifelong motivation as an engineer?

Bryan Erler: My grandfather, Papa, was a builder and my father was an engineer. I enjoyed working with Papa and discussing engineering projects and challenges with my dad. I was good at math and science in school. There was never a doubt in my mind that engineering was the career for me.

Q2: Tell us about your personal background?

B.E: I grew up in a suburb of Chicago. I played basketball in high school and had sports scholarship offers, but not to the big schools with good basketball and engineering programs. I decided on Purdue, but I didn’t make the basketball team. I married my wife, of 52 years, while still in school. Susan and I have two terrific daughters with wonderful husbands and three grandchildren.  

Q3: You are a recognized leader in the power industry and in standards. What gave you the push to enter these areas?

B.E: I received my B.S. and M.S. with excellent courses in engineering mechanics. In the late 1960s, nuclear power was expanding. There were great opportunities for sophisticated work involving dynamic analysis, post-tensioned concrete, and plates and shell analysis. It looked like an exciting opportunity—and it was. I was asked whether I would get involved in some standards committees. One thing led to the other and I became fully immersed in ASME’s S&C programs.

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Q4: You had a long career at Sargent & Lundy, what was your favorite project there?

B.E: The LaSalle County Nuclear Power Plant project. I was a young engineer doing many of the calculations for the design of numerous components. My name and P.E. stamp are on many documents. I was promoted rapidly, so for the many other plants that I was involved with I was a supervisor or manager. But as your role changes, you don’t do as much of the actual work yourself. You manage it.

Q5: What has been your proudest moment as an engineer?

B.E: There are many great moments, but some of the awards I have been honored with at the end of my career have left me speechless. They include a Purdue Engineering Distinguished Alumni; the ASME Bernard Langer Award; and a JSME Recognition Award for assistance following Fukushima. Now I hit the pinnacle by being selected president of ASME.

Q6: What do you hope to accomplish as the ASME president?

B.E: I have not come to the presidency with only one objective. The presidents before me have done the heavy lifting to bring our organization into the 21st century. I will benefit by those changes to drive our mission forward. I am most passionate about bringing the best and brightest students into engineering. That means substantially growing our scholarship endowment.

Q7: What advice do you have for students and early career engineers?

B.E: Charge after your passion. Make a difference for a better life for everyone. Challenge the tradition. When some say: “That’s how we always do it,” that’s a red flag. 

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Q8: Tell us something that you want people to know about you.

B.E: I am a blindly optimistic person. That leads to the courage necessary to carry things out.

John G. Falcioni is an editor based in Long Island, NY.