ASME Marks 135 Years

ASME Marks 135 Years ASME Marks 135 Years ASME Marks 135 Years. One hundred and thirty-five years ago, on Feb. 16, 1880, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers was founded by leading U.S. industrialists, educators, technical journalists, designers, shipbuilders, military engineers, and inventors. Held at the offices of American Machinist magazine in New York City, this preliminary meeting chaired by Alexander Lyman Holley who, alongside thirty leaders of industry laid down both the intellectual boundaries of the profession and the advantages of association. A portion of the New York Times article, published Feb. 17, 1880, which reported on the founding meeting. This influential meeting was announced in The New York Times the next day. At that time, committees were established to form by-laws, nominate officers and generate a potential membership list. An organizational meeting was held April 7 of that year, at nearby Stevens Institute (N.J.), for 80 interest ed engineers and leaders of industry, primarily focused on machine design, power generation, and industrial processes. Their main intent was to project a broader national role to advance technical knowledge and systematically facilitate a flow of information from research to practical application.ASME founders established the professional values we live by today values that guide the industrial and academic research we conduct, that encourage us to share our technical information and technical achievements at meetings and through publications, that provide educational efforts for life-long learning, and that foster the development of standards that promote the reliability and safety of products we use every day. The offices of American Machinist magazine at 96 Fulton Street in New York City, where the founding meeting took place on Feb. 16, 1880. So 135 years later, we congratulate all ASME volunteers and members who continue the Societys mission to serve diverse glob al communities by advancing, disseminating and applying engineering knowledge for improving the quality of our lives. ASME continues to grow in its rich heritage to be the essential resource for mechanical engineers and other technical professionals throughout the world.