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Consider how important professional engineers are to the world by celebrating Professional Engineers Day!

History of Professional Engineers Day

Since 1907, when the first professional engineer’s license was issued in Wyoming to Charles Bellamy, the engineers of the nation have continued to expand their commitment to the welfare of the public in a wide range of ways including health, safety, industry and more.

Professional Engineers Day was the brainchild of Tim Austin who is not only a licensed professional engineer himself, but also was president of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) for 2015-2016. While National Engineers Week has been around since the early 1950s, Austin believed that founding this day was important for distinguishing those who are licensed professional engineers.  

The first Professional Engineers Day was celebrated in 2016 when it was launched by the NSPE with the purpose of raising public awareness about the specific contributions of licensed professional engineers in the US. These contributions include practically all aspects of society, industry and the economy, such as transportation, energy, manufacturing, environment, communications and so many others.

How to Celebrate Professional Engineers Day

Show some appreciation, and learn a bit too, by celebrating Professional Engineers Day with some of these ideas:

Congratulate a Professional Engineer

Professional Engineers Day is the perfect time to show some appreciation to those professional engineers in your life. Those who have a friend or family member who is a professional engineer can take some time to tell them how great they are! Take them out for a meal, buy them a cup of coffee, send them a card or do something else to show how much they are loved.

Those who work in a company that has an engineering team can take Professional Engineers Day to thank them for their work. Managers can throw a little party for the team, have lunch catered into the office, or even give them a half day off. It’s a great way to build rapport and give special recognition for the professional engineers that work so hard.

Learn Fun Facts About Engineering 

In honor and celebration of Professional Engineers Day, it might be a good idea for non-engineers to get a bit more educated about the folks behind the day. Consider some of these facts as a start to get hyped up for the day:

  • The Ferris Wheel is considered to be one of the greatest engineering feats of the world. It was created in 1893 by George Ferris and was supported by two steel towers of 140-feet each, the longest piece of forged steel ever at that time.

  • The snowboard is a marvel of geometry, chemistry and biomechanics and, of course, it was created by an engineer.

  • Running shoes are actually designed by engineers who consider performance, comfort and protection for the feet, including factors like weight distribution while understanding how much force travels from the ground through the shoe and to the foot.

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