History

- NAESC Historical Overview

1982-1984

In 1982, the Purdue Engineering Student Council hosted the seventh Annual Midwestern Engineering Student Conference. In the Spring of 1983, two council members from Purdue began planning a national conference. Soon a planning committee was formed of six members and the list of sponsors grew to seven companies. The theme for the conference was the "Meeting of the Minds," and it was held November 30 through December 2, 1984.

1985

In November of 1985, Purdue again hosted the national conference. Delegates from the 26 schools in attendance were responsible for a number of accomplishments. They agreed that a national organization of engineering councils should be formed. They divided the organization into six geographical regions and formed a task force to develop the foundation for the organization. This task force included representatives from each region who agreed to meet three times a year to draft a constitution. Purdue University was designated as the communications base and for several years published a national newsletter.

1986

The name of the organization to be formed was the National Society of Student Engineers (NSSE). Schools attending the 1985 conference at Purdue were named charter schools and membership was opened to all schools with an engineering curriculum. On October 23-26, 1986, the University of Virginia held the Third Annual National Conference and the first meeting for the new National Society of Student Engineers. There were fifty schools in attendance. At this conference, the voting delegates ratified a constitution and adopted the National Engineering Student Council (NESC) as its name. The stated purpose of the NESC was "to provide for the continuing existence of an NESC Conference and a national newsletter in order to provide a link between representatives of engineering student bodies." A process was established which allowed schools to compete for the honor of hosting the next year's conference.

1987-1990

Little is known about the National Conference for these four years other than its location. The 1987 National Conference was held at Columbia University in New York. The University of Colorado in Boulder was the NESC host school in 1988. In 1989, the University of Cincinnati hosted the conference. The 1990 NESC conference took place November 1-4, 1990, at the University of North Carolina. The University of Texas lost the bid for the 1991 National Conference to the University of California at Irvine in a rather unusual fashion. As the story goes, the president of the University of California at Irvine stood up, without the support of his council and without an organized bid, and told the delegates about the great beaches and parties. The representatives from UC Irvine flew back from North Carolina, impeached their president, and went about planning the conference.

1991

In spite of the circumstances surrounding the National Conference bid, the University of California at Irvine managed to secure sponsorship from companies like Fluor Daniel, Hughes, McDonnell Douglas, and CH2M Hill. The conference was held from October 31 through November 3, 1991. The presidents met to discuss possible changes to the constitution concerning the purpose, organizational structure, advisory board, electronic communication, council membership, and incorporation. The conference itinerary included speakers, workshops, presidents' meetings, and roundtable discussions. The regional meetings were undoubtedly the most unique aspect of the weekend. On Friday night, the buses left for Corona Beach where the delegates were served dinner in the sand. After dark, there were seven bonfires scattered across the beach. Delegates from each region huddled around the respective bonfire for that region to keep warm and choose the school to host their regional conference.

1992

The 1992 NESC Conference was held from October 22-25 at Purdue University and it attracted 301 delegates from 69 universities across the United States. Eli Lilly and Company, United Technologies, Armstrong Industries, General Electric, and Southwestern Bell were among the top sponsors. The goal for the conference was "to establish stronger lines of communication between councils across the nation and to ratify a new Constitution which will make NESC an official organization." At this conference, a new constitution was ratified and a new name was adopted. The name of the organization became the National Association of Engineering Student Councils (NAESC). This conference also marked the election of the first NAESC Executive Board. The board consists of a Chair, five Directors, and seven Regional Representatives. Certainly one of the highlights of the conference was the speaker following dinner Friday night. John Casis, the Inspirational Speaker for the 1985 World Champion Chicago Bears, was coined by nearly everyone at the conference as "the best speaker I ever heard." Saturday evening entertainment at "The Trails" included a comedy skit by National Velveeta and stand up comedy by David Christensen.

1993

The Conference at the University of Virginia was held from November 4-7, 1993. It marked the first conference under the newly adopted constitution and the name "NAESC." Northern Telecom, Anderson Consulting, AT&T, BASF, and Martin Marietta highlight the list of corporate sponsors. The University of Virginia treated the delegates to a taste of a school that is rich in tradition. The presidents meetings took place in the historical Rotunda Dome. Saturday night entertainment was provided by Rick Corso, the "nuclear engineer turned comedian." The voting delegates met to discuss constitutional amendments, redefining the geographical regions, annual dues, and a host of other issues. For the first time, the NAESC Chair presided over the meetings. The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana was awarded the bid for the 1994 conference.

1994

The 1994 National Conference was held over Halloween weekend at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Over four hundred delegates were in attendance representing 67 universities from across the US and Canada. This marked the first interaction of the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES) and the NAESC. The extensive list of corporate sponsors included Proctor & Gamble, EDS, Ford, Caterpillar, IBM, General Electric, Motorola, and John Deer. UIUC kicked off the conference with a Casino Night on the top floor of the hotel. Friday included corporate seminars, plant trips, campus tours, an employment fair, and a banquet. The voting delegates assembled all day in the Granger Library to debate issues on the national charity, advisory board, awards, constitutional amendments, election procedures, bid procedures, and the reduction of annual dues. Saturday brought the NAESC Board Elections, roundtable discussions, regional meetings, the National Conference Bid Presentation, a banquet, and an Illinois-style Barn Dance. The "Texas Leadership Exchange" will be the theme for the 1995 NAESC National Conference at the University of Texas at Austin.

1995

The 1994-1995 year proved to be a difficult one for the organization. Several board members dropped out, not to be heard from again, and several did not make it to the National Conference. In an extremely unfortunate incident, the promising NAESC Chair, Brian Wood, was injured in an automobile accident that happened en route to the Congress of Canadian Engineering Students conference. Unable to finish the term of office, he resigned early in 1995.

Despite the misfortune that plagued the organization thus far, the University of Texas at Austin triumphed with "The Texas Leadership Exchange." In the last weekend of October, nearly 400 delegates attended the 4 day event. The well organized conference featured all the roundtable discussions, council development sessions, corporate presentations, council presentations, leadership development sessions and plant tours that characterize the NAESC National Conference. Social events included a mixer at the hotel featuring the Ballet Folklorico, a night out on 6th Street, the famed center of Austin night life, and a ranch party.

The Voting Delegates Meetings did not fare as well. In several arduous sessions, an Advisory Board was added to the Constitution and Bylaws, as were election procedures and a provision to establish an impartial party to run the Voting Delegates Meetings. In an unprecedented incident, the survival of the NAESC was sorely tested: when the time came, no one presented a bid to host the 1996 NAESC National Conference! In the near frantic final session of the Voting Delegates Meeting, another set of Bylaws and Constitutional Amendments were hastily crafted and passed. These amendments provided for the extension of the deadline to present bids to host the annual NAESC National Conference.

The 1995-1996 NAESC Executive Board left the conference faced with a near complete turnover and the need to find a host for the 1996 NAESC National Conference.

1996

Two universities presented bids to host the 1996 Conference within the one month deadline extension. In an extremely close Executive Board Vote, Wright State University was selected over the University of Minnesota as the new home for the Conference.

The year proved fruitful for the NAESC. Through the efforts of Douglas Menelly, Director of Finance, the organization was officially incorporated. For the first time ever, all six NAESC Regions hosted Regional Conferences. Regional charities were organized for the first time. An Advisory Board was implemented. The NAESC achieved a level of maturity regarding its internal operations.

2001

Behind the leadership of the Executive Board 2001 marked the year of the greatest growth thus far for NAESC. NAESC moved away from being a new organization to being a developed organization. This was the first year for that the NAESC Magazine was published. The web page was taken to a whole new level of resourcefulness and interaction reaching 1600 hits per day. This also marked the year that NAESC stepped out and let people know we existed. NAESC visited the Canadian Engineering Competition, ASEE Conference and NSPE Conference for the first time in our history. This was also a year for other precedence such as the Executive Board traveling to regional conferences and meeting four times during the year. The 2001 year came to a conclusion as Iowa State University put on the largest conference in NAESC history.

2003

As was voted upon at the 2002 National Conference at Pittsburgh University, 2003 was to be a transition year. This would be the last year that the National Conference was held in Fall, with host University of Kansas. Following the conference, a new Executive Board was elected to hold a 6-month term, with an emphasis on preparing NAESC for the upcoming change in fiscal year, preparing for another national conference to take place at the end of the 2003-2004 term 5 months later, and restoring relations with the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students. The 2003 Executive Board succeeded in all regards, and ended the term with the 2004 National Conference at Marquette University in Milwaukee, considered one of the nicest and most successful conferences of all time. The 2002-2003 term was the host to the first ever President's Retreat, a midterm open-forum gathering of the Executive Board and representatives from over 30 member schools. The event was so successful it has now become an official NAESC event.