The web site of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) states that the organization’s strength is in its chapters.  The SAMPE student chapter at the University of Delaware is one of more than 60 student chapters throughout the world, and its members are quickly learning about the many benefits of being associated with this international organization whose membership totals more than 12,000.

Advised by CCM Director jack Gillespie, the UD SAMPE Student Chapter is led by President Amanda Lim, a Ph.D. student in materials science.  While Lim has been active in SAMPE activities for several years, she welcomes the expanded involvement of undergraduates that is underway, including the leadership roles played by younger students.  While the Treasurer, Josiah Hughes, and Secretary, Valentin Neacsu, are both graduate students, the chapter’s current Vice President is junior Munetaka Kubota.

Lim also values the growing number of local activities for student SAMPE members.  “We’re affiliated with the Baltimore-Washington Professional Chapter,” she says, “so a lot of the tours and meetings have been in that area.  But there are lots of engineering companies in Delaware and nearby Pennsylvania, and we’re starting to arrange some tours and other interactions with these sites.” 

The group recently had the opportunity to visit Bally Ribbon Mills, a manufacturer of specialty engineered fabrics for medical, military, safety, industrial, aerospace, and commercial applications in Bally, PA.  Future tours will include both processing and research facilities to give students insights into these two very different aspects of engineering practice.

“These opportunities go beyond textbooks to help us better understand engineering,” Kubota says.  “It’s wonderful to go out and see what companies actually do and how they do it.  The chapter also provides great networking opportunities for students, which will help when we’re looking for jobs and when we’re new in the workplace.”

Current membership is about 25 students, but an active recruitment campaign is taking place in classes throughout the College of Engineering this fall.  “This is truly a multidisciplinary organization,” Lim says, “even going beyond engineering to include disciplines like physics and chemistry.”

In addition to educational activities, the SAMPE student chapter provides members with volunteer opportunities.  The organization sponsors the annual Space Beam Challenge and is also hoping to get involved with engineering tutorials at local high schools and possibly establish a Boy Scout badge in engineering.

As an international professional society, SAMPE also offers students valuable opportunities to travel and present their work through conference papers and posters.  A competition enables selected students to attend the annual SAMPE conference and exhibition, held in alternating years in Long Beach, CA, and Baltimore, MD.

Lim and Kubota are both appreciative of the support provided by Gillespie as the chapter advisor.  “He’s really encouraging of efforts to increase participation,” Lim says, “and he’s very supportive of all the activities we have planned.”