The American Society for Precision Engineering is a non-profit member association, founded in 1986, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and technology of

precision engineering Precision engineering is a subdiscipline of electrical engineering, software engineering, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, and optical engineering concerned with designing machines, fixtures, and other structures that have excepti ...

, to promote its dissemination through education and training, and its use by science and industry.

Overview

The American Society for Precision Engineering (ASPE) focuses on many areas that are important in the research, design, development, manufacture and measurement of high accuracy components and systems. This collective discipline is known as Precision engineering, and includes precision controls,

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...

interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the ''interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

, materials, materials processing,

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

, optical fabrication, precision

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

, precision replication, scanning

microscopes A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

processing, standards and ultra-precision machining.

History

There has long been a "community" of precision engineers within the United States but a formal structure and common focus for the activities was lacking. This was not the case in Japan, as evidenced by the large and active Japanese Society of Precision Engineers. In November 1985, a joint US-Japanese meeting on precision engineering included a special session to discuss the possibility of forming an American Society. The enthusiasm of the participants and the overwhelming response to a subsequent questionnaire provided momentum. By November 1986, the American Society for Precision Engineering was incorporated and held its first Annual Meeting in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. The theme of the well-attended meeting, "Thresholds in Precision Engineering," was reflected in 28 papers covering a broad spectrum of applications. At this meeting, a Board of Directors was elected with members drawn from industry, private laboratories, government and academia. ASPE emphasizes the foundations necessary to achieve precision in any application and seeks to bring together practitioners from all of the related fields. The Annual Meeting, held each fall, presents topics spanning the field of precision engineering.

Conferences and Exhibitions

* 1st Annual Meeting,

, November 1986 * 2nd Annual Meeting,

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, November 1987 * 3rd Annual Meeting,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, October 1988 * 4th Annual Meeting,

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

, September 1989 * 5th Annual Meeting,

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, September 1990 * 6th Annual Meeting,

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, October 1991 * 7th Annual Meeting,

Grenelefe, Florida Grenelefe is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Polk County, Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the ...

, October 1992 * 8th Annual Meeting,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, November 1993 * 9th Annual Meeting,

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, October 1994 * 10th Annual Meeting,

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, October 1995 * 11th Annual Meeting,

, November 1996 * 12th Annual Meeting,

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, October 1997 * 13th Annual Meeting,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, October 1998 * 14th Annual Meeting,

, October 1999 * 15th Annual Meeting,

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

, October 2000 * 16th Annual Meeting,

Crystal City, Virginia Crystal City is an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, south of downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential high-rise buildings using underground corridor ...

, November 2001 * 17th Annual Meeting,

, October 2002 * 18th Annual Meeting,

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, October 2003 * 19th Annual Meeting,

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, October 2004 * 20th Annual Meeting,

, October 2005 * 21st Annual Meeting,

, October 2006 * 22nd Annual Meeting,

, October 2007 * 23rd Annual Meeting,

, October 2008 * 24th Annual Meeting,

, October 2009 * 25th Annual Meeting,

, October/November 2010 * 26th Annual Meeting,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, October 2011 * 27th Annual Meeting,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, October 2012 * 28th Annual Meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota, October 2013 * 29th Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, November 2014 * 30th Annual Meeting,

, November 2015 * 31st Annual Meeting,

, October 2016 * 33rd Annual Meeting,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, November 2018 * 34th Annual Meeting,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, October/November 2019

Publications

The Society jointly publishes a peer-reviewed technical journal, ''Precision Engineering: Journal of the International Societies of Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology'', in cooperation with its European and Japanese counterparts.

Lifetime achievement award

The American Society for Precision Engineering presents the ASPE Lifetime Achievement Award to individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of Precision Engineering.http://www.cirs.net/prix/awards.php?id=1605, Prizes and Awards, International Center for Scientific Research, Retrieved February 3, 2011.

References

External links

American Society for Precision Engineering
{{authority control Engineering societies based in the United States Mechanical engineering organizations