Student Groups

Alpha Eta Mu Beta Honor Society

This organization is the Biomedical Engineering honor society. The society promotes an understanding of the profession and recognizes and encourages excellence in the field. The purpose of the society is to bring into closer union and to mark in an outstanding manner those biomedical engineers who have manifested a deep interest and marked ability in their chosen life work so as to promote an understanding of their profession and to develop its members professionally. There are currently twenty-two chapters of this society in the country.

American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Student Chapter

AIAA is the principal society for the aerospace profession, providing for the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of the theory and practice of the aeronautical and astronautical sciences. It affords students the opportunity to explore interests in the aerospace industry and encourages professional consciousness and fellowship. The student branch sponsors plant trips, lectures by industry professionals, and an alumni/student social event. Members can also participate in projects such as remote-control aircraft design. Membership is open to all students at Boston University.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Student Section

This national society, with more than 100,000 regular members and 250 student sections, is dedicated to advancing the profession of mechanical engineering. Members are active at all levels of almost every segment of business, industry, education, and government. Membership in the student section brings students into contact with practicing engineers through technical meetings with guest speakers, field trips to local industries, and regional and national society functions, including the regular meetings of the Boston section of ASME. Upon graduation, student members can become associate members of the society. Student membership is open to full-time undergraduate and graduate students.

ASM International, BU Student Chapter

Founded in 1933, ASM International now has over 36,000 members with a broad range of expertise in Materials Science & Engineering. The BU Chapter was founded in 2011 to help students advance their knowledge and careers in the field. ASM International serves materials professionals, nontechnical personnel, and managers worldwide by providing high-quality materials information, education and training, networking opportunities, and professional development resources in cost-effective and user-friendly formats. ASM is where materials users, producers, and manufacturers converge to do business.

Biomedical Engineering Society, Student Chapter

This professional society is concerned with the application of all engineering specialties to health care and the life sciences. The student chapter sponsors lectures and collects information about graduate training and career opportunities. Membership is open to all engineering and science students at Boston University.

BU Energy Club

The BU Energy Club is a broad-based multi-disciplinary group consisting of undergraduates, graduates, alumni, and faculty that serves as a link between scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and business people at Boston University and at other schools and universities in the greater Boston area. Its aim is to synthesize energy-related ideas from multidisciplinary educational and professional sources in order to advance understanding of energy and its role within society, industry, technology, and policy through empirical, objective energy-related education and outreach.

BU Racing

Boston University Racing is a student-run formula racing group focused on developing a fully electric racing vehicle. As a group which operates by the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers rule book, our design process is safety oriented and highly focused on learning. In preparation for industry, BU Racing strives to improve students’ skill in both engineering and teamwork.

Design Community

Design Community is a student organization centered on providing events in the fields of design, art, engineering, communication, business, and manufacturing. We try to provide informative events that educate students in areas not often taught in class such as sketching, ideation, prototyping, and fabricating. The Design Community club doesn’t really have a central project; we work under the principle that by hosting engaging speakers, students will be able to apply what they have learned to their own projects. We also have other events besides speakers, including design competitions, portfolio week, and movies.

Engineering World Health

Engineering World Health at Boston University (BUEWH) is our chapter of the national EWH organization. The goal of the organization is to motivate biomedical engineers to utilize their knowledge in improving the quality of health care in hospitals that serve the developing world. Towards this goal, we install donated and new medical equipment, carry out equipment repairs, and develop local capacity to both manage and maintain sophisticated equipment. Biomedical equipment technician (BMET) training is provided within the developing countries.

Engineers Without Borders

Engineers Without Borders is a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.

Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society

This organization is the national Electrical and Computer Engineering honor society. The organization was founded in 1904 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently, there are over 200 chapters in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Eta Kappa Nu recognizes scholarship and aims to assist members in becoming better professionals.

FIRST Robotics Team

FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” and is a national organization (www.usfirst.org) that aims to encourage high school students to get excited about science and technology. Every spring hundreds of teams across the country design and build robots to play in a game specified by the FIRST organization. The robots compete in regional competitions in March/April; winners then go to Atlanta, Georgia, for the national competition at the end of April.

The BU FIRST Robotics team (Team 246) has been in existence since 1998. The team is run by BU undergraduates who work with high school pupils from the BU Academy and other area high schools. Students can be involved in a number of activities within the team including fund-raising, mechanical design and fabrication, electrical design and fabrication, software design, and management.

Global App Initiative

Apps for Humanity is a software development group where students and professionals come together to design, develop, and publish iPhone/iPad/Android (mobile) apps for nonprofit organizations who need our help. Many of these organizations have interesting and innovative ideas that could help transform the way mobile software impacts society.

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc., Student Chapter

This professional society serves the broad spectrum of engineering applications of the electrical and computer sciences. More than 30 professional groups within IEEE cover a wide range of disciplines including all of the academic programs offered at the College of Engineering. Membership is open to all engineering and science students at Boston University.

Make_BU

Make_BU is a collection of students who attend and organize hack nights and hackathons within and outside of BU. Each week we hold a two-hour “hack night” on campus, where students come to learn new skills, work on side projects, and meet new people interested in making, tinkering, hacking, innovating, etc. At our hack nights, our members give informal demos of their latest projects, and we sometimes host local tech start-up companies or researchers, or network with other local universities. Our members are involved in web-, mobile-, and hardware-based development, and come from many different colleges within BU. We cater to students of all skill levels, and foster an educational environment in which members collaborate with and help each other. Our members also organize BU’s biannual overnight hackathon with the help of several other tech-related clubs.

National Society of Black Engineers

The National Society of Black Engineers aims to maintain the mission “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.” We are a chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) but we accept any member who cares to support our cause or who feels that they may benefit from our efforts. We aim to serve as active members in our University, our community, and in NSBE through events, community service, and attendance at NSBE conferences.

Pi Tau Sigma Honor Society

Pi Tau Sigma is the national mechanical engineering honor society. The objectives of this society are to encourage and recognize the achievements of undergraduate students in mechanical engineering, to foster high ideals in the engineering profession, to develop leadership and citizenship, to stimulate and support departmental activities, and to honor practicing engineers for distinguished technical attainments.

Boston University Rocket Propulsion Group

The BU Rocket Propulsion Group is an undergraduate student group which focuses on the design, research, and development of rockets and rocket engines. The BU Rocket Propulsion Group’s current project is research in hybrid rocket engine performance. In the past the team has designed, built and tested several solid fuel rocket engines including an aerospike rocket engine.

Sigma Gamma Tau Honor Society

Sigma Gamma Tau is the honor society for aerospace engineering. The objective of the society is to recognize and honor those individuals in the field of aeronautics and astronautics who have, through scholarship, integrity, and outstanding achievement, been a credit to their profession. The society seeks to foster a high standard of ethics and professional practice and to create a spirit of loyalty and fellowship, particularly among students of aerospace engineering.

Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers

The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) was founded in November 2007 to help Asian-heritage scientific and engineering professionals achieve their full potential. Organizations existed for other affinity groups—the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers—and there was a need for a similar organization where students representing all of the pan-Asian cultures could connect and support each other. Boston University students, in association with a representative from GE Aviation, established a new collegiate chapter of SASE to support the national initiatives of SASE at our campus. Activities include networking, panel discussions, company visits, and lectures.

Society of Automotive Engineers (Baja)

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Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

The society promotes the development of Hispanics in engineering, science, and other technical professions to achieve educational excellence, economic opportunity, and social equity. Its objectives are to increase educational opportunities; promote professional and personal growth; implement the social responsibilities related to education, business, and government issues; and enhance the reputation of, and students’ pride in, the organization and its vital contributions.

Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Student Chapter

This professional society stimulates research and disseminates knowledge in all phases of manufacturing engineering. Student members participate in field trips, technical seminars, and lecture series, and are upgraded automatically to regular society membership one year after graduation. Student membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students.

Society of Women Engineers, Student Section

This professional society is a nonprofit, educational service organization of graduate women engineers and women with equivalent engineering experience. The objectives of the society are: to inform young women, their parents, counselors, and the general public of the qualifications and achievements of women engineers and the opportunities open to them; to assist women engineers in readying themselves for a return to active work after temporary retirement; to serve as a center of information on women in engineering; to encourage women engineers to attain high levels of educational and professional achievement. Membership is open to all students in the College of Engineering.

Student Government Association

The Student Government Association represents the College of Engineering undergraduate population. Its purpose is to promote School and class interest. The Engineering Student Government Association is comprised of class officers and the executive board. It is a subgroup of the University’s Student Union.

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space

SEDS an independent, student-based organization that promotes the exploration and development of space. Its mission is to educate students about the benefits of space and to provide an opportunity for students to develop leadership skills through involvement in space-related projects.

Tau Beta Pi Association

This national engineering honor society was founded in 1885 to offer appropriate recognition for superior scholarship and exemplary character to engineering students and professional persons. Tau Beta Pi has collegiate chapters at 205 institutions and a total initiated membership of more than 358,000.

Technology Entrepreneurship Club

The Technology Entrepreneurship Club’s mission is to promote entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering. TEC encourages graduate and undergraduate students to explore entrepreneurship and convert the technology they study and ideas they develop to potential business opportunities. Every year we organize a new “New Venture Competition” for BU tech start-ups with a significant cash prize. In addition, we host panels and lectures providing incentives and guidance about entrepreneurship to students.

Theta Tau

Theta Tau is a professional co-ed engineering organization. It is the oldest, largest, and foremost fraternity for engineers that has grown to over 35,000 members and 91 chapters and colonies across the nation since its inception. The purpose of Theta Tau is to instill and maintain a high standard of professionalism among its members, embrace a strong bond of fraternal fellowship, and foster the intellectual pursuits of engineering.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles team’s mission is to excite students about the field of unmanned aerial robotics. To accomplish this mission, the team is focusing its efforts on building an entry for the 2012 AUVSI International Aerial Robotics competition. This exciting and multifaceted project involves designing, building, and flying a fully autonomous micro air vehicle through an indoor course while carrying out various high level interactions with objects inside.