A guiding hand as you build your resume. Young Professionals Advisory Board
New - Posted June 2007:
Advice on organizing a Young Professionals Section -
by S. Thomas King, AIChE Chicago Local Section
In chemical engineering, a healthy pipeline is critical to success. Similarly, young members are key to the vitality and future of the Institute.
Launched at the 2002 AIChE Leadership Development Conference, the Young Professionals Advisory Board (YPAB) is dedicated to gaining and maintaining the participation of young professional members. YPAB will foster relationships with young members, employers, and local sections to promote increased participation. They will also advise AIChE on how to reach this target group and offer products and services that meet their needs.
"YPAB is critical to the future of the Institute, said Bette Lawler, AIChE director of operations. "Young chemical engineers need a professional home. Our Institute, while doing a good job at bringing new young professionals on board, is challenged to keep this constituency involved."
According to recent membership statistics, members under 30 are the most difficult age group to retain. Fifty three percent of individuals who dropped their membership last year were under 29. Of these, nearly half were under 25. YPAB is key to retaining more of these members.
"The role of YPAB is to help define what young professionals need from an organization like ours and make sure that such services and networking opportunities are available to them," said Lawler. "This group will also help us communicate in a way that speaks to young professionals."
YPAB will work to improve communications with young members through a Web site, list serve, and printed materials devoted exclusively to the needs of young professionals and available directly from AIChE and through employers of young engineers. These vehicles will connect young engineers and communicate the benefits of AIChE membership.
Through the years, AIChE membership has helped young professionals to build professional and social networks. YPAB is helping to promote these networks by working with local sections to develop programming to connect with young members. YPAB will plan social events at the Annual and Spring meetings for this age group. They are also working with employers of young engineers to encourage corporate support of AIChE membership on the managerial and corporate level.