About Alpha Pi Mu at the University of Washington
The official UW chapter of Alpha Pi Mu, the national Industrial Engineering Honor Society, was established on December 1, 2000. In a ceremony held at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, the newly appointed Alpha Pi Mu officers inducted 12 students and two IE faculty members into the organization.
In June 2010, Alpha Pi Mu inducted eight students for the upcoming 2008-2009 academic year. Currently there are ??? students and ??? faculty members, comprised of both current undergrad and graduate students, as well as undergrads members who have subsequently enrolled in UW graduate programs associated with the IE Department.
The name and the symbol
The three major phases of Industrial Engineering are administration, production and methods - the words from which our name Alpha Pi Mu is derived. In our key they are symbolized by the three sides of the triangle comprising the outline of our profession. The triangle is superimposed upon a cogwheel. Since the time of Industrial Revolution, the cogwheel has been a symbol of the engineering profession - the profession traditionally concerned with supplying the wants of human kind. But with the ever increasing store of human knowledge, specialization was necessary; and engineers also specialized. Industrial Engineering is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials and equipment. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, to predict and to evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems. The key thus show the triangle of our specialty superimposed upon the firm base of human knowledge. The cogwheel is also an outward symbol of our motto, the Greek phrase:
E'-PE-RAY'-TE AN-THRO-PE'-TI-TOS
This means "humble service to humanity is the goal of the true engineer".
Goals of Alpha Pi Mu
- To confer recognition upon industrial engineering students who have shown exceptional academic interests and abilities in his field.
- To encourage, wherever possible, any movement which will advance the best interest of industrial engineering education.
- To further unify the student body of the Industrial Engineering Department in presenting its needs and ideals to the faculty.
- To create a closer student-faculty relationship by bringing together the needs and thoughts of both.
- To assist and cooperate with all organizations and persons working for the interest of industrial engineering.
- To benefit its members by the association and experience that comes from bringing together a group with similar interests, objectives, and abilities and to promote the professional welfare of all.