Without question, the 20^th Century produced some of the greatest engineering achievements of all time. In the year 2000, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced the top 20 of these achievements ( ), with the top one being the effects electricity had on society. It was this very creation which sparked the formation of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in May 1884. Along with the establishment of these new 20^th century engineering marvels, the various engineering technical and professional societies continued to split into the developing sub-specialties following the founding of the American Society of Civil Engineers to function in their own right, some concentrating more on technical activities while others added professional activities to their charters. Some tended to be more pro-business/industry while others were more rank-and-file engineer/member oriented. In the case of the AIEE, Edwin T. Layton, Jr. in his classic book “The Revolt of the Engineers”, wrote about how the “business” leaders in the AIEE conducted a “palace revolt” and gained power over the elite “professionals”, who til then, in 1912, had led the society. With the 1912 revolt by business members considered as IEEE’s first revolution, it was not until 1963 and then again in 1972 that two more revolutions occurred.

The largest of these technical societies, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), was formed in 1963 came about from a peaceful revolution, through the merger of the Institute of Radio Engineers with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. The IRE, formed in 1912, had attracted the young engineer professionals from the AIEE and grew exceed the size of the AIEE, which remained under the control of business members with a aging membership. Then, in 1972, as a result of demands from its rank and file working engineers, it added Professional Activities to its Constitution in 1972, nearly 90 years after its initial founding, in response to a demand by its Members over economic and unemployment issues.

It is now appropriate and historically important to document to what extent the IEEE and its member engineers had attained what degree of professional standing from these two important revolution milestones in IEEE‘s history, as the 20^th century closed at the end of the year 2000. This book’s purpose is to examine this and attempts to explain and document what standing had been achieved, not only for the Institute as a whole, but for its member engineers as well. In particular, IEEE‘s members in Regions 1-6 (covering the USA) will be examined for their professional standing and contrasted with those residing outside the USA in Regions 7-10. .

The book assesses how well the IEEE has done for it members, under its new added professional purpose. This new purpose came about with the 1972 amendment to IEEE’s constitution, which added “professional” , “directed toward the advancement of the standing of the members of the professions it serves” to its long standing “scientific and educational learned society” purpose. It then began conducting a series of surveys of the USA members on salary and fringe benefits every two years, in 1971 through 2000. However, there was no evidence to show that the IEEE also conducted similar surveys of its non-USA members, residing in Regions 7-10. This book is based upon assessing the results of the USA surveys, determining any gains or losses made and presents a historical context for IEEE and IEEE USA’s evolution and how its engineer members have progressed professionally, from the early days of its founder societies, the AIEE in 1884 and the IRE in 1912 through the end of the 20^th century.

First, in Part I, we will establish the meanings of the following three important facets of engineering:

What the criterion of a profession are

What makes an engineer a professional

What the identifying characteristics of professionalism are

Without agreement about these facets, it will not be possible to assess the professional standings of the IEEE or its member engineers. We will look at the major engineering organizations which have come into existence to serve the technical and/or professional interests of their constituents. Then we will attempt to establish and rate the standing of the IEEE as an engineering profession, using the three criteria mentioned above. Here, it will be shown to what extent the IEEE has attempted to survey and determine the professional standing of its members, throughout its 10 Regions of operations and membership.

Next, in Part II, we will look at what role IEEE has played promoting and/or supporting the ethical responsibilities of its member engineers and how this affected professional standings.. This will be done by reviewing the codes of ethics, various ethical support mechanism and looking at specific cases.

In Part III, we will look into the role licensing of Professional Engineers has played, or not played, in advancing the standing of IEEE professionals. Here, the role played by the National Council of Examiners of Engineers and Surveyors (NCEES) in the process. We also review what role the AIEE played affecting the industry exemption of employed engineers in industry. We will also examine what the current policy of the IEEE USA is towards licensing and registration and the use of the title “engineer”.

Part IV examines the manner in which the vast majority of engineers in the USA are employed today under the so called “at-will” legal doctrine. The way this practice jeopardizes the professionalism of employed engineers will be looked into. Then ways in which employed engineer professionals may neutralize these effects will be discussed.

Part V focuses upon the member engineers of IEEE USA. Use of 30 years of salary and fringe benefits surveys is used to document what their professional standings were between the years of 1971 and 2000, at 10 year increments. Extensive data and charts are provided.

In Part VI, a relative new concept of engineer professionalism is introduced, and that is “the rights of engineer professionals”, as contrasted with what their responsibilities are as professionals. A new Declaration of Engineers’ Rights is presented for the first time in any reference book

Lastly, this book closes in Part VII by offering views as to what changes could/should be made by the IEEE which would improve the professional standing of the Institute and its member engineers. Extensive references and source materials are provided and important reprints are included as appendices.