WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN

THE SOCIETY OF RELIABILITY ENGINEERS?

Let's start with basics. We are not expensive. Basic dues are $10.00 per year. Dues for most professional societies are in excess of $50.00. To be frank, you will not receive a glossy monthly magazine. Our newsletter is semi-annual (its not our primary means of communication with our members) with the thoughts of some of the best reliability experts in the world. The subject matter ranges from new state-of-the-art concepts to personal experience with "real life" problems. If you live within commuting distance. the local chapter meetings are lively, informal and thought-provoking. Our speakers are not imported at great expense. You, yourself run the risK of being asked to speak. There are various SRE Symposia each year in the United States, Canada and Scandinavia. We sponsor other symposia such as the annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS).

Another important reason is the highly specialized nature of Reliability Engineering. If 211 the Reliability Engineers in the world joined the SRE, we would still be a small society. In many companies the Reliability Engineer is a "one man organization". As a result, "peer contact is extremely difficult". In the SRE, you will quickly become acquainted on a first person basis with Reliability Engineers from all over the nation - and beyond. Presently, the total international membership is about 1000 people. Thus, when you have a problem, the SRE approach is to put you in direct contact with someone who has already faced that same problem - as opposed to handing you a pile of dusty abstracts. The result is not just contacts, but genuine comradeship in a community of individuals who are deeply involved in the same kind of activity.

The SRE has consistently resisted the temptation to become "diversified". Although many of our members are heavily involved in other disciplines, our objective is to provide in depth support of reliability-specific activities. This approach more effectively supports the other disciplines in that we serve as a clear focal point for information and data on reliability aspects of those disciplines. This should not be construed as meaning that we do not want members who are not Reliability Engineers. Nothing could be further from the truth. We want and need the cross-fertilization which comes from non-reliability members, and they in turn, benefit from having a full two-way interchange of ideas and information with Reliability professionals.

Let's assume you are now considering joining us. What else could he causing you to delay? The money? We can not seriously believe that this by itself is the problem. Too much of your time? We have no assigned activities for our members. In the long run, your degree of participation is up to you. Uncertainty about eligibility? The SRE Constitution has no membership restrictions with regard to either education or experience. Its only requirement is that the prospective member have a sincere desire to advance his knowledge in the field of reliability. Commuting distance? We have European members in North American chapters. Even without attending chapters meetings there are obvious benefits from the association. Initial red tape? All you have to do is to fill out an application form, make out a check payable to the "SOCIETY OF RELIABILITY ENGINEERS" and mail them. Your membership card and certificate will be returned by mail. Further contact will be by telephone and fliers informing you of local and international activities.



SRE Document: 00-006-8205