Building ASMEs Foundation for the Future

Building ASMEs Foundation for the Future Building ASMEs Foundation for the Future Building ASMEs Foundation for the FutureMay 12, 2017 ASME President Keith RoeTo the ASME Community GreetingsWelcome to the first in a series of communications were putting together under the rubric Building ASMEs Foundation for the Future. As we head into the final stretch of what has been a vital year for ASME, weve reached a good moment to share an update on where we are and where were headed.For perspective, as you know, ASME has been dedicated to engineers, engineering and the wider world ever since ur founding 137 years ago. Whether by world-renowned standards creation, professional training and workforce development, leading publications, conferences and public policy work, or through the support and advancement of new technologies to make the world a better place, ASME has made significantly mora than a centurys worth of remarkable contributions to the safety and improved quality of life of peop le everywhere. Last June, I was inaugurated as ASMEs 135th president the honor of any engineers professional life. But it wasnt just any year. My term arrived at a transformative moment.ASMEs Board of Governors had voted the previous September to adopt a new strategy to unify all Society activity, founded squarely on technology leadership. Five key technologies were approved in June 2016 Robotics, Manufacturing, Clean Energy, Bioengineering and Pressure Technology. The new approach had been taking shape for some years already. As my term began, the new strategy had been approved and was in place. I loved the strategy and was excited to help launch it in my yearIt was time to execute, and the clock was ticking. As the new stewards of our historic organization, it was our job to begin realizing the vision. This meant a great and quite rare opportunity to re-envision how ASME works with and engages its members and constituents, responding to an explicit call from the Board to expand ASMEs reach and global impact well into the future. To reach the ambitious goal the BOG had set, we had no time to waste.We began at the beginning and resolved to build a strong foundation for the significantly enhanced organizational impact ASMEs Governors had challenged us to create. The language they adopted that past September was unequivocalBy 2025, ASME is called upon to be the go-to organization to help address key technology-related challenges in the public interest in a manner that engages core engineering constituencies (government, academia, industry, engineers, students, and technology-development professionals). As a result of successfully pursuing this objective, ASME would be expected to grow and increase its global and technology footprint while increasing its mission impact.Taking on the challenge to become a true multiple-market technology leader was no small task. It meant ASME had to begin the work toStrengthen our focus and insights into those primary marketsLea rn new product development skills and capabilitiesConvene subject matter experts to develop content ecosystems in each technologyEnsure our priorities were embodied in our strategies and well-implemented at every stepBe disciplined and focused in our workChange our culture to reflect the demands placed on us as a technology leaderSet ourselves on a course toward rock-solid fiscal health.ASMEs leadership agreed that raising the Societys game had to start with the BOG raising its own game ASME had to have a High-Performing Board to lead this effort. But while a culture change of such magnitude starts with the Board, we also created several Presidential Task Force working groups to focus intensively on that and a select group of other vital areas. These now includeIncreasing Industry Engagement Leadership in ASME (Chair Stacey Swisher Harnetty)Student and Early Career (Chair Terry Shoup)Strategy and Planning (Chair John Goossen)Building a High Performance Board (Chair Bill Wepfer)We a lso instituted a Sector Management Committee dedicated to Group Engagement/Alignment (Chair Rick Marboe) to optimize our internal structures and align them with the larger effort.As of this writing, all these teams have been at their work for months now, charting the way forward on each of their mutually reinforcing goals. I look forward to sharing details of their work with you in our next article in the series, as well as other areas of growth and good effort that merit your attention at this point.To complete the task set for us by the BOG will take more years of persistence and resolve, but I am proud to say, here in the home stretch of my term the foundation is solid and well along in construction. Please watch this space to learn more the more you know about the work done so far, as well as what is still to come, the more confident I am youll be excited to join in as ASME charts its course to the future. The work is well begun.With all best wishes Keith Roe, ASME President