Why You Should Join Tau Beta Pi
Welcome!
Founded in 1885, Tau Beta Pi is the nation's oldest and largest engineering honor society.If you have received an invitation to join Tau Beta Pi, congratulations! You are presumed to be a talented engineer or engineering student, and your hard work deserves to be proudly recognized. You have also demonstrated qualities of leadership and service. By becoming a member of an honor society, you join others with similar interests and high achievements. Membership in Tau Beta Pi recognizes exceptional engineers and students who have exemplary character and also offers unique and valuable opportunities. There are many valid reasons to join this highly regarded organization with its thousands of distinguished members.
"Tau Beta Pi has an important role in encouraging and inspiring engineers everywhere."
—Jeff Bezos, member
Founder and CEO of Amazon.com
Student Benefits of Tau Beta Pi Membership
Tau Beta Pi seeks to broaden the collegiate experience of its members, thereby enhancing the engineering educational experience. Interests in non-technical fields, civic responsibility, and other human and cultural areas are encouraged through the various social and service activities of the chapters.
Membership in Tau Beta Pi enables close interaction with students of all different engineering disciplines within your school and also provides opportunities to interact with faculty members, many of whom are also Tau Bates.
Tau Beta Pi assists more students than any other engineering organization, awarding more than
$550,000 in scholarships and fellowships to 26 Fellows and 145 Scholars for 2008-09.
As a member, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of our many excellent programs. Please read on.
- Undergraduate Scholarships
- Awards of $2,000 are given to Tau Beta Pi members for full-time engineering study in their senior year.
- In
2009 Tau Beta Pi will increase the number of awards to 234 scholarships, thanks to the generosity of our alumni.
- Fellowships
- Tau Beta Pi awarded 35 fellowships,
26 of whom received $10,000 cash stipends for one year of graduate study.
- The program has awarded more than
$4,825,000
in stipends to 75 groups of fellows and scholars.
- Student Loans & Financial Assistance
- Loans of up to $2,500 are available to members for undergraduate and graduate study and to new members for the amount of the initiation fee.
- Grants are available to student members who would otherwise be without sufficient financial resources to remain in college.
- Career Assistance
- Through corporate sponsorships, Tau Beta Pi makes it possible for you to put your resume in the hands of recruiters from companies such as CH2M Hill, General Motors, International Paper, Raytheon, Sandia National Laboratories, and more.
- Our web site includes an online job board connecting our members with top engineering companies that seek to hire interns, entry-level engineers, and seasoned alumni. Resumes may be posted anonymously.
- Tau Beta Pi offers members a discount on FE and PE test preparation materials and many collegiate Chapters organize free review sessions to prepare for the exam.
- Top Graduate programs demonstrate interest in Tau Beta Pi members by advertising in The BENT and by sending recruiters to our annual career fair.
- Leadership Opportunities & Training
- Our Engineering Futures Program features alumni from industry to present to engineering students interactive seminars on leadership, management, teamwork, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.
- The student-led chapters offer various opportunities for members to develop leadership skills by assuming positions as officers.
"The Engineering Futures Program helped me find a job in this tough time.
The interviewer was impressed that we had been trained in analytical problem solving,
people skills, and meeting management. I can't thank you enough for this training.
—Hailing Xu, student member
University of California, Berkeley
- Community and Campus Service Opportunities
- Most Tau Beta Pi chapters offer scheduled tutoring to underclassmen and assist the schools' administration with important activities such as orientation and honors banquets.
- Promote engineering in the community by sponsoring K-12 competitions and providing simple K-12 classroom demonstrations of engineering principles as part of MindSET, Tau Beta Pi's National K-12 Math & Science Initiative.
- Networking and Mentoring Opportunities
- Our AlumNet mentoring program matches student members with alumni through email to share information about a field, company, institution, or location, and to identify alumni willing to serve as guest speakers and chapter advisors.
- District Conferences bring together students from other chapters and interested alumni.
- Attending the annual National Convention is an opportunity for members to have a say in how Tau Beta Pi operates, and meet members and alumni from chapters across the country.
- TBP CONNECT is Tau Beta Pi's InCircle Community that offers
an exclusive network for student members, alumni, and corporate affiliates.
- Publications
- THE BULLETIN newsletter keeps student members informed about the Association.
- THE BENT quarterly magazine is a powerful voice for the engineering profession and an advocate for recognizing engineering contributions.
- Additional Recognition
- Initiation ceremony and banquet honoring new members.
- Personalized membership certificate and pin for every member at no additional cost.
- Membership into a prestigious honor society regarded for its distinguished alumni. Here is the complete list, how many do you recognize?
- Honor cords and stoles may be purchased to wear at graduation.
- Exclusive Discounts and Benefits Now and Beyond Graduation
- Membership does not end with graduation. It represents a life-long opportunity for recognition, honor, networking, personal growth, and service to the organization through a variety of volunteer positions. Tau Beta Pi's ONE-TIME INITIATION FEE offers members and their families a lifetime of benefits. Please visit the Member Benefits page for a complete description.
To contact the TBP chapter at your school and visit its website, click here for the list of links.
Tau Beta Pi is a founding member of the Association of College Honor Societies. Please read about the further benefits of membership in an officially recognized honor society: A Matter of HONOR.
