Order of the Engineer Preview

View a clip of our keynote speaker Sam Reed at our 99th Order of the Engineer ceremony held last fall. Interested in learning more about or participating in our Order of the Engineer ceremony? Contact Events Head Logan Johnson via the ‘Contact Us’ tab seen above.

Lost Rings

A link for ordering replacement rings in the event that your ring gets lost will be updated here shortly.

About The Ceremony

The Order of the Engineer is a meaningful opportunity for graduating or already graduated engineering students to show pride and responsibility in their profession and includes taking an ethical oath called the Obligation of an Engineer.

The Order of the Engineer was initiated to foster a spirit of pride and responsibility in the professional engineering community, to bridge the gap between training and experience, and to present to the public a visible symbol identifying a person as an engineer. The Ceremony includes taking an oath similar to the oath taken by medical professionals and sets forth an ethical code. The Obligation contains parts of the Canon of Ethics widely acknowledged by many major engineering societies. Initiates voluntarily pledge to uphold the standards and dignity of the engineering profession and to serve humanity by making the best use of Earth’s precious wealth.

History of the Order of the Engineer

The first ceremony was held on June 4, 1970 at Cleveland State University. Since then, similar ceremonies have been held across the United States at which graduate and registered engineers are invited to accept the Obligation of the Engineer and a stainless steel ring. The ceremonies are conducted by Links (local sections) of the Order.

The Order is not a membership organization; there are never any meetings to attend or dues to pay. Instead, the Order fosters a unity of purpose and the honoring of one's pledge lifelong. The Obligation is a creed similar to the oath attributed to Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) that is generally taken by medical graduates and which sets forth an ethical code. The Obligation likewise, contains parts of the Canon of Ethics of major engineering societies. Initiates, as they accept it voluntarily, pledge to uphold the standards and dignity of the engineering profession and to serve humanity by making the best use of Earth's precious wealth.

The Obligation of the Order of the Engineer is similar to the Canadian "Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer" initiated there in 1926. It uses a wrought iron ring, conducts a secret ceremony, and administers an oath authorized by Rudyard Kipling. The extension of the Ritual outside Canada was prevented by copyright and other conflicting factors. The basic premise, however, was adapted for the creation of the Order of the Engineer in the United States in 1970.

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