American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing education, training and professional development, codes and standards, research, conferences and publications, government relations, and other forms of outreach." ASME is thus an engineering society, a standards organization, a research and development organization, an advocacy organization, a provider of training and education, and a nonprofit organization. Founded as an engineering society focused on mechanical engineering in North America, ASME is today multidisciplinary and global. ASME has over 85,000 members in more than 135 countries worldwide.
Also recorded as asme.org · ASME · ASME International
American Society of Mechanical Engineers

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- Name
- ASME
- Founded
- 1880
- Founder
- Alexander Lyman Holley · Henry Rossiter Worthington · John Edson Sweet
- Headquarters
- New York City
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In this article
Overview
Overview
ASME was founded in 1880 in response to numerous steam boiler pressure vessel failures by Alexander Lyman Holley, Henry Rossiter Worthington, John Edison Sweet and Matthias N. Forney, with Robert Henry Thurston as the society's founding president. Known for setting codes and standards for mechanical devices, ASME conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations. It holds numerous technical conferences and hundreds of professional development courses each year and sponsors numerous outreach and educational programs. Kate Gleason and Lydia Weld were the first two women members, both by 1920.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME Nozzle Test at Propulsion Systems Laboratory, PSL
NASA Glenn Research Center / NASA/GRC/Jordan Salkin · This image or video was catalogued by Glenn Research Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: GRC-2021-C-05467.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME Nozzle Test at Propulsion Systems Laboratory, PSL
NASA Glenn Research Center / NASA/GRC/Jordan Salkin · This image or video was catalogued by Glenn Research Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: GRC-2021-C-05247.
Key facts
Key facts
• Type — Not-for-profit membership organization • Headquarters — New York City, U.S. • Language — English • Leader Name — Janis Terpenny • Leader Title — President • Leader Title2 — Immediate Past President • Leader Name2 — Lester K. Su • Leader Name3 — Thomas Costabile • Leader Title3 — Executive Director • Affiliations — * AIChE • Engineering for Change • Name — ASME • Location — Two Park Avenue New York NY 10016-5990 United States • Region Served — Worldwide • Num Members — 85,000+ in over 150 countries
Codes and standards
Codes and standards
ASME is one of the oldest standards-developing organizations in America. It produces approximately 600 codes and standards covering many technical areas, such as fasteners, plumbing fixtures, elevators, pipelines, and power plant systems and components. ASME's standards are developed by committees of subject matter experts using an open, consensus-based process. Many ASME standards are cited by government agencies as tools to meet their regulatory objectives. ASME standards are therefore voluntary, unless the standards have been incorporated into a legally binding business contract or incorporated into regulations enforced by an authority having jurisdiction, such as a federal, state, or local government agency. ASME's standards are used in more than 100 countries and have been translated into numerous languages.
Boiler and pressure vessel code
Boiler and pressure vessel code
The largest ASME standard, both in size and in the number of volunteers involved in its preparation, is the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC). The BPVC provides rules for the design, fabrication, installation, inspection, care, and use of boilers, pressure vessels, and nuclear components. The code also includes standards on materials, welding and brazing procedures and qualifications, nondestructive examination, and nuclear in-service inspection.
Other notable standardization areas
Other notable standardization areas
Other Notable Standardization Areas include but not limited to are; Elevators and Escalators (A17 Series), Overhead and Mobile Cranes and related lifting and rigging equipment (B30 Series), Piping and Pipelines (B31 Series), Bio-processing Equipment (BPE), Valves Flanges, Fittings and Gaskets (B16), Nuclear Components and Processes Performance Test Codes.
Journals
Journals
The journals published by ASME include: • Applied Mechanics Reviews • Journal of Applied Mechanics • Journal of Biomechanical Engineering • Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics • Journal of Dynamic Systems Measurement & Control • Journal of Fluids Engineering • Journal of Heat Transfer • Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems
Magazine
Magazine
In addition to academic journals, since 1880 the ASME has also published the magazine Mechanical Engineering.
ASME Fellows
ASME Fellows
Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME Fellow is a Membership Grade of Distinction conferred by The ASME Committee of Past Presidents to an ASME member with significant publications or innovations and distinguished scientific and engineering background. Over 3,000 members have attained the grade of Fellow. The ASME Fellow membership grade is the highest elected grade in ASME.
E-Fests
E-Fests
ASME runs several annual E-Fests, or Engineering Festivals, taking the place of the Student Professional Development Conference (SPDC) series. In addition to the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC), the Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D Challenge (IAM3D), the Student Design Competition, and the Old Guard Competition, there are also talks, interactive workshops, and entertainment. These events allows students to network with working engineers, host contests, and promote ASME's benefits to students as well as professionals. E-Fests are held in four regions in the United States and internationally —western U.S, eastern U.S., Asia Pacific, and South America—with the E-Fest location for each region changing every year.
Student competitions
Student competitions
ASME holds a variety of competitions every year for engineering students from around the world. • Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) • Student Design Competition (SDC) • Innovative Design Simulation Challenge (IDSC) • Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D Challenge (IAM3D) • Old Guard Competitions • Innovation Showcase (IShow) • Student Design Expositions
Organization
Organization
• Illustration — AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. 12 WEST 31ST St, 19th century headquarters ASME has four key offices in the United States, including its headquarters operation in New York, N.Y., and three international offices in Beijing, China; Brussels, Belgium, and New Delhi, India. ASME has two institutes and 32 technical divisions within its organizational structure. Volunteer activity is organized into four sectors: • Technical Events and Content • Public Affairs and Outreach • Standards and Certification • Student and Early Career Development
Controversy
Controversy
In 1982, ASME was found to be the first non-profit organization to in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The United States Supreme Court found the organization liable for more than $6 million in American Society of Mechanical Engineers v. Hydrolevel Corp.
Identity
Identity
American Society of Mechanical Engineers is recorded as founded by Alexander Lyman Holley, Henry Rossiter Worthington and John Edson Sweet. Associated with United States. Recorded from 1880.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
Explore 1880–2010
The full dated record · 11 entries
1880
American Society of Mechanical Engineers established.
1880
American Society of Mechanical Engineers is recorded from 1880.
1909
Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1909) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1941
ASME Section IX is dated 1941.
1999
ASME A17.4 (1999): Guide for Emergency Personnel (1999) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2005
ASME B30.2: Safety Requirements for Overhead and Gantry Cranes (2005) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2007
ASME QEI-1 (2007): Standard for the Qualification of Elevator Inspectors (2007) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2007
ASME B31.1 (2007): 2009 Addendum to the 2007 Edition (2009) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2008
ASME A17.3 (2008): Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators (Includes Requirements for Electric and Hydraulic Elevators and Escalators) (2008) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2010
ASME BPVC VII (2010): Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Part VII, Recommended Guidelines for the Care of Power Boilers (2010) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2010
ASME A17.6 (2010): Standard for Elevator Suspension, Compensation, and Governor Systems (2010) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q466950: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “American Society of Mechanical Engineers”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 861-8, American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
ASME awards and recognition
ASME awards and recognition
ASME offers several categories of awards, including: achievement awards to recognize "those who have made significant achievements in various engineering disciples"; literature awards for original papers; service awards for voluntary service to ASME; and unit awards from ASME groups, sections, or committees. Among ASME's honors and awards, several have been conferred for more than a century. They begin with Honorary Membershipwhich ASME also regards as its highest grade of membershipand include the following: • Honorary Member (1880): ASME's highest level of membership, granted by the Board of Governors for "distinguished service that contributes significantly to the attainment of the goals of the engineering profession." Fewer than 100 living people are honorary members. • ASME Medal (1920): for "eminently distinguished engineering achievement." • Holley Medal (1924) • Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award (1925) • Charles T. Main Student Leadership Award (1925) • Melville Medal (1927) • Henry Laurence Gantt Medal (1929) • Worcester Reed Warner Medal (1930) • George Westinghouse Medal (1952 and 1971) • Lewis F. Moody Award (1958) • R. Tom Sawyer Award (1972) • Ralph Coats Roe Medal (1972) • Edwin F. Church Medal (1972) • Nadai Medal (1975) • Leonardo Da Vinci Award (1978) • Soichiro Honda Medal (1983) • Duane P. Jordan Early Career Award (1994) • Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award (2008) • Kate Gleason Award (2011)
Edwin F. Church Medal
Edwin F. Church Medal
The ASME established The Edwin F. Church Medal in 1972. Every year it is awarded to "an individual who has rendered eminent service in increasing the value, importance and attractiveness of mechanical engineering education." The ASME intends the Medal to represent Education in a very broad sense: This includes any aspect of mechanical engineering communicate via universities, technical institutes, professional society educational activities, continuing education programs of professional societies and private groups, in-house professional development programs of industrial concerns and governmental agencies, programmed learning and self-instruction systems. This means the nominees need not be professional educators. A bequest from Edwin F. Church, Jr. (1879–1964), an ASME Member and professor of mechanical engineering and head of the department at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, established the Medal. Recipients include: • 1973. Wilbur R. Leopold • 1974. Hobart A. Weaver • 1975. Harry Conn • 1976. Frank W. Von Flue • 1977. not awarded • 1978. not awarded • 1979. Kenneth A. Roe • 1980. Dennis K. Bushnell • 1981. Neal P. Jeffries • 1982. Clinton H. Britt • 1983. not awarded • 1984. Milo Price • 1985. Emil L. Martinec • 1986. not awarded • 1987. Garland H. Duncan • 1988. Dale E. Klein • 1989. Adolph T. Molin • 1990. James R. Welty • 1991. Joseph A. Falcon • 1992. Stephen Juhasz • 1993. Larry C. Oyen • 1994. Avram Bar-Cohen • 1995. not awarded • 1996. not awarded • 1997. Dean Kamen • 1998. Allan D. Kraus • 1999. Woodie C. Flowers • 2000. John H. Lienhard • 2001. Frank Kreith • 2002. William S. Hammack • 2003. Devendra P. Garg • 2004. David Lavery • 2005. Vincent Wilczynski • 2006. not awarded • 2007. not awarded • 2008. not awarded • 2009. Wilbur J. Marner • 2010. not awarded • 2011. Ramesh K. Agarwal • 2012. Kenneth S. Ball • 2013. William M. Worek • 2014. John W. Cipolla • 2015. William J. Wepfer • 2016. Karen Thole • 2017. Francis A. Kulacki • 2018. Kendra V. Sharp • 2019. Andreas Polycarpou • 2020. Nael Barakat • 2021. Efstathios E. Michaelides • 2022. Suvranu De • 2023. Volker Sick • 2024. Oscar Barton Jr.
Nadai Medal recipients
Nadai Medal recipients
• Satya N. Atluri (2012) • Huseyin Sehitoglu (2007) • George Z. Voyiadjis (2022)
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article American Society of Mechanical Engineers, revision 1372404787 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.ASME Government Relations. Terpenny Begins Term as ASME's 145th President, New Members and Nominees to the Board of Governors Announced. ASME. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. June 24, 2026.
- 2.ASME. Lester K. Su Named ASME’s 144th President. 2024-06-19.
- 3.ASME Selects Thomas Costabile as Executive Director. asme.org. 2018-05-22.
- 4.ASME. ASME.org > About ASME.
- 5.Engineering Advocacy.
- 6.ASME. ASME by the Numbers 2022. April 2022.
- 7.ASME. About ASME – At a Glance.
- 8.Sinclair, Bruce. A Centennial History of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1880–1980. Published for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers by University of Toronto Press. 1980. 978-0-8020-2380-3.
- 9.ASME. Setting the Standard. History.
- 10.ASME. The ASME Digital Collection.
- 11.American Women Engineers. The Woman Engineer. I. 11. 156. June 1922.
- 12.ASME. Standards Are Global. History of ASME Standards.
- 13.ASME – List of All Journals – ASME. asme.org.
- 14.American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Honors & Awards. ASME.
- 15.American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Honorary Member. ASME.
- 16.American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Honors Manual. 39.
- 17.American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ASME Medal. ASME.
- 18.American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Nadai Medal Recipients.
- 19.American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Edwin F. Church Medal.
- 20.ASME
- 21.ASME. Fellows.
- 22.ASME IPTI. Award Descriptions & Applications.
- 23.ASME E-Fests™. efests.asme.org.
- 24.ASME Competitions.
- 25.ASME E-Fests™ Competitions. efests.asme.org.
- 26.ASME E-Fests™. efests.asme.org.
- 27.ASME E-Fests™. efests.asme.org.
- 28.ASME. Student Professional Development Conference.
- 29.ASME. ASME Competitions.
- 30.Contact Us.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Calvert, Monte A. The Mechanical Engineer in America, 1830–1910: Professional Cultures in Conflict. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967.
- Hutton, Frederick Remson (1915) A History of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ASME.
- Sinclair, Bruce. A Centennial History of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1880–1980. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1980.
- John H. White. A History of the American Locomotive: Its Development, 1830–1880. Courier Dover Publications. 1979. 978-0-486-23818-0.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 861-8, American Society of Mechanical Engineers.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q466950: American Society of Mechanical EngineersWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
“American Society of Mechanical Engineers”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further readingWikipedia
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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