There are two important components to successful engineering: technical
expertise and professional skills. While the power that drives an engineer's
successful design lies in technical expertise, communicating the success of
the engineering career often depends on professional development in areas of
management, leadership training, communication, and business. Successful
engineers will need to achieve balanced excellence in both their technical
and professional development. Society membership will help achieve this
balance for engineers having membership in their discipline's technical
society, along with membership in NSPE.
Active membership in NSPE reaps benefits such as continuing professional
development to interaction and networking with other engineers and
involvement in public policy and political issues crucial to engineering and
the common good. However, active NSPE members find that the friendships and
professional interaction is often the most rewarding benefit. Even those
engineers who find they have minimal time available for active membership
find satisfaction through their support of NSPE's efforts toward assuring the
highest integrity of the engineering profession and in representing
professional engineers in important local, state, national, and international
issues.
In addition to enhancing professional development and providing a common
forum for engineers, NSPE membership also provides secondary benefits that
are of immediate financial significance to its members. These include member-
only discounts on professional insurance, career-advancing resources, car
rental and airline discounts, and other products. Students also benefit from
having opportunities to interact with professional engineers in practice at
local and state meetings of the parent chapter. This provides a great
opportunity for investigating job opportunities, developing professional
references, and starting a path to a successful career. Students also have
access to some scholarships, as some state societies offer scholarships and
grants annually to high school seniors and undergraduates.
