July/August 2017

NSPE Today
Show That PE Pride

Mark your calendars for August 2, 2017, and plan to join PEs around the globe for the second annual Professional Engineers Day. Designed to increase awareness and appreciation for the important contributions of licensed engineers, this day is also an opportunity to educate the public on the role of the PE and for companies to recognize members of their staff who are licensed.

Like last year’s celebration, this year’s will remain a mostly virtual event, and NSPE encourages people to post to social media using the hashtag #LicensedPEDay. In addition, there are a few new ways to take part and build on last year’s success:

• A graphic toolkit is available for participants to download and use to promote the event.
• NSPE is encouraging PEs to take and send in videos of a “day in their life,” showcasing all the different projects and work PEs do, which will then be shared and highlighted on August 2.
• Template language and a guide for PE Day proclamations are available for those interested in receiving a proclamation from their local or state governments.
• Outreach to partner organizations to help recognize and promote PE Day is underway, and you are encouraged to share PE Day information with other organizations to which you belong.

Last year’s event saw NSPE members, partner organizations, engineering firms, engineering schools, and even the general public recognize the event and post the #LicensedPEDay hashtag across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The hashtag was tweeted over 2,000 times, and over 1,300 photos were shared on Twitter. Facebook and Instagram also saw hundreds of posts from as far away as Africa and Australia. In addition, many city, county, and state governments issued official proclamations, and at least one NSPE chapter hosted a successful PE Day happy hour event.

The original idea for PE Day came from NSPE 2015–2016 President Tim Austin, P.E., F.NSPE, as a way to recognize PEs apart from National Engineers Week and the US Science and Engineering Festival, which focus on engineering in general. Through discussions with staff and leaders, the concept and plan for the inaugural event developed and the first Wednesday of August was selected in honor of the first professional engineering license, which was issued to Charles Bellamy in Wyoming in August 1907.

More information, including the new 2017 logo, can be found at www.nspe.org/PEDay.