History
SHPE National
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles. Their objective was to form a national organization of professional engineers to serve as role models in the Hispanic community.
The concept of Networking was the key basis for the organization. SHPE quickly established two student chapters to begin the network that would grow to encompass the nation as well as reach countries outside the United States. Today, SHPE enjoys a strong but independent network of professional and student chapters throughout the nation.
SHPE Puget Sound Chapter
Founded in 1986 and began through the student chapter at the University of Washington. The students took the initiative to reach out to Frank Sanchez, an Electrical Engineer at The Boeing Company to request professional support. With the support of Cheryl Berg, the University of Washington Minority Engineering Program Administrator, the first official meeting was held on March 6, 1986.
In 1996, SHPE Puget Sound was the primary host of the National Technical Career Conference (NTCC) in Seattle. SHPE also hosted the National Leadership Institute Conference in 2003.
The last few years have been a time of rebuilding for our Puget Sound Chapter. We’ve been growing every year, due in large part to the wave of Hispanic engineers being hired at Boeing, which represent about 70% of our members. We’ve also been actively recruiting from Microsoft and other engineering and technology companies in the Puget Sound, such as Starbucks and Accenture, in order to continue growing our membership.
Our annual events are becoming favorites with our members. These events include our annual Milk Carton Derby, End-of-the-Year Banquet, Viva Technomania, National Engineering Week, and many more events. These events are contributing to retaining and developing our chapter members so that we can better serve our community.
We’re also strengthening our relationship with the students through our mentorship program, which has grown from not only the University of Washington but also to Seattle University, a student chapter started last year.
We have a rich history of SHPE in the Puget Sound and are continuing to grow our chapter to take advantage of all the great resources available to us in the area.
SHPE Puget Sound Chapter Awards and Recognitions
- 2008 SHPE National Outstanding Professional Chapter of the Year Region I Adelante Award - SHPE National Conference @ Phoenix, Arizona
- 2009 SHPE National Outstanding Professional Chapter of the Year Region I Adelante Award - SHPE National Conference @ Washington, DC