The American Engineering Alliance (AEA) was incorporated in New York on December 11, 1995. Do we need yet another Engineering Society? Yes! If any of the long standing Societies achieved the goal of significant economic and social benefit for Engineers, there would be no reason for the AEA.

It is not our purpose to compete with the long-standing Societies. However, we do want to secure for all engineers and the engineering profession, what these other organizations have not been able to provide, namely recognition and a better social and economic status. (see objectives)

The AEA was formed in response to a need. The Engineering Profession has been on a downward spiral since the heydays of the 70’s when there was an abundance of engineering projects. Because of the great demand for engineering services, salaries and fees were respectable then.

In recent years, however, globalization and the trend toward downsizing and outsourcing have taken a severe toll on our profession. The Engineering profession is completely at the mercy of market forces over which engineers have no control. We are ruled by the law of supply and demand, and subject to the ruthless competitive forces that govern the marketplace for engineering services.

Given the above state of affairs it is understandable that the profession is demoralized and under siege. There is a lot frustration, anger, resentment and fear in the profession. Engineers across the board do not reap the rewards of their many years of study, experience and the heavy burden of responsibility that they carry. Instead of being handsomely rewarded for their significant contributions to Society, engineers are subject to low salaries and fees, unprofessional work environment, lack of respect and recognition and an insecure economic future.

AEA was created to address the serious problems facing our profession. AEA was designed to be a national organization and to be the standard bearer for the profession. AEA is not just another engineering society. Its by-laws were carefully crafted to make AEA nimble, responsive and efficient. AEA will be focused on attaining results. The organization is structured to respond quickly to challenges to the profession. AEA will be pro-active rather than reactive. It will be a major player in the political arena wielding power and influence for the good of the profession and society.

Compositions & Structure of AEA

AEA was designed to be a mass organization comprised of individual engineers (no firms). It welcomes all engineers, from young engineers and engineering students to partners and owners of engineering firms. There are approximately 3 million engineers in the United States. AEA’s goal is to represent all of them. The typical member will be a graduate from an ABET recognized engineering program. In addition, AEA offers non-voting associate membership to those in allied technical fields such as scientists, technologists, and technicians (e.g., NICET grades). The rationale for this is that the people in the technical fields have common interests and share similar concerns, such as low pay and lack of recognition. Bringing these people under the banner of AEA makes a lot of sense since there is strength in numbers. The classic example of this is AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Because AARP has over 35 million members, it has tremendous political clout. In fact, Congress will not touch any government program, such as social security and medicare, which affects senior citizens.

In addition to associate membership, AEA offers student and international membership. Both of these classes of membership are non-voting. AEA is governed by a Board of Directors made up of 15 volunteer members. At the present time there are only 9 Board members who are also the founding members of AEA. At the next Biennial election the remaining six Board members will be elected. The Board is empowered by the By-Laws to hire a president to execute the policies of the Board. The president is a full time paid officer of AEA. He/she serves at the pleasure of the Board. His longevity as president will depend on how effectively he achieves the objectives of AEA and carry out the mandates of the Board. The president is fully accountable to the Board and will be dismissed if he/she does not produce results. The Board is also authorized to hire an executive director who will carry out the day-today operations of AEA. This is a full-time paid position. The executive director will have a staff to assist him/her. Presently the position of president and executive director are vacant. As soon as AEA membership grows sufficiently (approximately 40,000 members) we will be able to fill these positions.

Key to Success - You

The success of AEA depends on you. Unless the individual engineers buys into the concept of AEA, we, as a profession, will never achieve the high economic and social status that we deserve. Only though unity can we attain our goal.

It is essential, that you, the reader, understand this fundamental concept. If you and your colleagues join AEA in large numbers, in no time we can be a powerful and influential organization. To make it easy for all engineers to join we have purposely made the membership fee only $15. Since the fee is low, we do need a large membership to generate the necessary funds to finance our campaign. If we can recruit 5% of the more than 3 million engineers in the next 2 to 3 years, we can be a major player in the political arena. Even though we can be a force to be reckoned with only a small percentage of the total engineering population, AEA is committed to recruiting 100% of the engineers in the USA.

To summarize, our message is simple. You, the engineer, are the key to success of AEA. If you are convinced that AEA is the only vehicle for raising the stature of our profession and improving the economic and social lot of all engineers, then all it takes is a minor investment of money and time. Join us, convince your colleagues to also join and, if you can, volunteer some time to the AEA. Only you can make it happen. Together, in unity, we can control our destiny. The choice is yours!