On September 1st, 2000 the chemical Engineering students had their
first Friday pizza seminar. The main topic of this seminar was AICHE student
activities. Here we learned what the AICHE was, how to join and some
important events that take place for students involved in the AICHE.
The AICHE stands for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. This is an organization of Chemical Engineers from all over the United States. The AICHE has a 91-year history; it was formed in 1908. Today there are over 57,000 members from all fields and divisions of Chemical Engineering. The AICHE was formed to bring all sorts of Chemical Engineers from around the United States together to keep the profession a force in the global economy. The three major goals of the AICHE are as followed.
· To increase public understanding of the profession, chemicals,
and the
chemical technology industries.
· To provide relevant continuing education and career planning
assistance,
to help engineers compete effectively
in the next millennium.
· To develop new effective solutions to major safety performance,
environmental and health issues, as
well as new engineering technologies.
In case you already did not know. The AICHE is open to not just Chemical Engineers that have graduated and are now working in the field, but encourages student participation as well. The following is a statement made by the AICHE that really shows how strongly they believe that it is in the student’s benefit to join.
Students & Young Engineers: Let AIChE help
you take control of your future
In this rapidly changing world, you can count on two things:
A vast array of possibilities, and AIChE -- to help you make
the most of those possibilities.
Each year the AICHE holds a national student chapter meeting. At this meeting there are speakers as well as a lot of informative information for young Chemical Engineers. There are also workshops on things such as job resumes, careers, and other helpful information. They also hold career fairs and car competions as well.
I believe that it is in the best interest of any Chemical Engineering student to join the AICHE. You can easily do this at their web site http://www.aiche.org/ There is two types of memberships, gold and silver. The fee for gold is $20 and $10 for silver. This is a small price to pay for the benefits that come along with your membership.
Here is a list of all of the benefits you receive when joining the AICHE
Student Gold Members receive all the same benefits of Student Silver
members
(Shown below) plus:
Exclusive access to a "members-only" area of Student Gold.
The Student Gold Web Site helps college students prepare for the transition from campus life to the world of the working professional. Topics featured on the site include:
Up-to-the-minute tips on summer internships.
Student Research. Read the winning research papers from the
Regional Student Conferences, the Annual Student Conference,
and the National Design Competition, along with the winners'
insights on choosing research topics and solving research
problems.
New Technology Forum. Interested in a cutting-edge specialty
area within chemical engineering -- say, semiconductors or
petroleum? Read what the field’s experts had to say in AIChE’s
Annual Student Conference sessions on "Frontiers in Chemical
Engineering," and then use this site’s contact information to ask
the experts your follow-up questions.
Student Mentoring Program. Read the latest information
about this pilot program, debuting in September 2000.
Silver Members enjoy the same benefits as AIChE’s professional members,
including:
¨ The monthly magazine Chemical Engineering Progress
¨ The monthly newspaper AIChExtra
¨ Eligibility to compete for regional and national awards and scholarships
¨ Discounted rates to AIChE meetings and national conferences
¨ Access to career-development support
¨ Financial services
¨ A membership card
As you can see from the list above the membership is well worth it.
The AICHE has a great web site as well. Any Chem. E who hasn’t been there should go. I have used it numerous times for information about Chemical Engineering. The AICHE is the best organization for a Chem. E student out there. It has a countless number of resources and information that is all put together in one place. We all can be grateful that the organization exists for us.
Here is a link to there web site in case you missed the last one.
http://www.aiche.org/
Justin St. Germain
12/13/00