American Engineers' Council for Professional Development

The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development or simply the Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD), established in June 1932,[1][2] was an engineering professional body dedicated to the education, accreditation, regulation and professional development of the engineering professionals and students in the United States.[3][4][5] ECPD grew and has changed its name to ABET, Inc. and its focus solely to accreditation.[3]

Its purpose was to set standards and to publish the Codes of Ethics and other material for engineers and engineering schools and organizations in the United States,[6][7][8][9]

The seven engineering societies that established ECPD in 1932 were:[3]

• The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, now the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME)
• The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), since 1963 merged into the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)[10]
• The Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, now the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
• The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
• The National Council of State Boards of Engineering Examiners, now the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)

ECPD was founded to provide a "joint program for upbuilding engineering as a profession". However, it almost immediately began developing as an accreditation agency, evaluating its first engineering program in 1936 and its first engineering technology program in 1946.[3]

ECPD changed its name to Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 1980, and changed it again to ABET, Inc. in 2005.[3]

ABET, Inc. is now an accreditation federation of 29 professional and technical societies (and one associate member society), representing the fields of applied science, computing, engineering, and technology.[11]

References

1. As an audit of accomplishments, 1932-1947, and a rededication of plans for future action, this booklet is issued by the Engineers' council for professional development in commemoration of its fifteenth anniversary, June 1947
2. Science, Volume 94, Issue 2446, pp. 456: Engineers' Council for Professional Development
3. ABET History
4. Engineers' Council for Professional Development. (1957). The first five years of professional development
5. Engineers' Council for Professional Development. (1948). The most desirable personal characteristics; an exploration of opinion and a report from the Sub-committee on Student Development
6. Engineers' Council for Professional Development. (1976). including criteria, objectives and procedures for accrediting programs in engineering in the United States. New York: Engineers' Council for Professional Development
7. Engineers' Council for Professional Development, (1947); and Canons of ethics for engineers
8. Engineers' Council for Professional Development, (1974); and The young engineer: a professional guide
9. Engineers' Council for Professional Development, (1942), a Manual for committees of engineers who aid young men interested in engineering education and the engineering profession
10. "History of IEEE". IEEE. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
11. ABET's Member Societies Archived 2010-09-17 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Engineers' Council for Professional Development. (1978). Engineering education and accreditation report, 1977. New York: The Council.
• Transcending the Theory-Practice Problem of Technology - Reich (1992) quote from article: For example, a paragraph in a recent engineers code of ethics, Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties, (American Engineerss (sic) Council for Professional Development, 1974) stimulated discussion about its interpretation and feasibility