As President of NABIE, I attended the NSPE meeting in Orlando, Florida from July 15th to the 19th. The NABIE display which we have used for several years was assigned a prominent location and offered participants the opportunity to pick up NABIE newsletters and other items. Andy Haimes, P.E., liaison between NABIE and NSPE, attended the meeting; and we had an opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas on how to move NABIE forward utilizing the resources available through NSPE. This topic will be discussed in future newsletters.
I had the opportunity to address the House of Delegates on Saturday, July 17th to provide a brief update on NABIE. The House of Delegates includes the voting delegates from each state (1 to 6 per state) and U.S. territories and the NSPE Board of Directors, a total of 123 members. This opportunity, which we have had for several years, has greatly improved the understanding of who NABIE serves; is a chance to voice NABIE’s challenges, which are similar to those of NSPE’s; and is a chance to report on NABIE’s activities.
Sam Grossman, P.E., outgoing NSPE President, has worked toward global cooperation among the world’s engineers through his travels to meetings of engineering groups in a number of foreign countries. His efforts in this regard, as well as those of past NSPE Presidents Brad Aldrich, P.E., Bernie Berson, P.E., and others have generated interest in NABIE by the Korean Professional Engineers Association. The Korean association sent their President (and wife), Vice President, and a staff member to the NSPE meeting for the purpose of developing relationships that can be beneficial to both Korea and the United States. The Korean delegation is quite interested in NABIE and the certification program; and we have started dialog to help each other understand the other’s system for licensing and regulating the practice of engineering. There will be more on this new relationship in future newsletters.
