Athens, Ga. – As a part of spring 2008 commencement festivities, newly-minted engineering graduates will join longtime faculty with distinguished engineering careers in the second Order of the Engineer induction ceremony at UGA on Friday, May 9. The ring ceremony to be held in Driftmier Engineering Center publicly recognizes the engineering principle of service to the public that is the common bond of all members of the profession.
That professional commitment is symbolized in the acceptance of a stainless steel ring presented to each initiate upon accepting the oath of the Order of the Engineer. Originally established in 1925 in Canada, the order was started after the collapse of a bridge in Quebec as it neared completion. The engineering community salvaged some of the cast iron from the bridge and fashioned rings to symbolize their commitment to accuracy and protecting the society they serve as engineers. In 1972, Georgia engineers brought the order to the state.
The UGA ceremony is organized by students and faculty, including Steve McCutcheon, an expert in ecological and environmental engineering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency currently at UGA on a research appointment with the Faculty of Engineering. The featured speaker for the ceremony will be Marsha Anderson Bomar, president and founder of Street Smarts, Inc. Named one of Atlanta Woman Magazine’s 2008 Top 25 professional Women to Watch, Bomar’s remarks are titled “Engineering Potential: Responsibilities, Ethics and Obligations.”
The Order of the Engineer has no meetings and charges no dues; U.S. members simply wear the stainless steel ring on the fifth finger of their working hand to remind them of their ethical responsibilities whenever they complete calculations and sign off on plans and designs. The ring and commitment symbolize the critical and unique role engineers play in society and the perpetual importance of ethics, fidelity and high performance to the profession.
The ring ceremony is open to recent engineering graduates, students, faculty and professional engineers in Northeast Georgia and their families. The event is sponsored by the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers Link 209, the American Society of Civil Engineers World Headquarters Link, Northeast Georgia Engineers, the Georgia Section of American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the UGA Faculty of Engineering.