Cleveland State University’s Fenn College of Engineering will hold its annual Steel Ring and Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 4 at 5:30 p.m. The ceremony and reception will be held at Drinko Hall in Cleveland State’s Music and Communication building, 2001 Euclid Avenue.

The Steel Ring and Awards Ceremony is a meaningful and traditional event for Fenn College students, family, and friends. The ceremony will include a State of the College address by Interim Dean Bahman Ghorashi.

The participating students will take an oath, professing to adhere to professional engineering standards and sign a certificate, “Obligation of an Engineer,” that acknowledges their acceptance of the principles of the profession. Students will individually receive their rings. In addition to the Steel Ring Ceremony, students will receive recognition from their respective engineering departments for academic achievement.

The purpose of the Order of the Engineer is to foster a spirit of pride and responsibility in the engineering profession; to bridge the gap between education and practice; and to present the public with a visible symbol identifying the engineer. The first Steel Ring, ceremony in the United States was held at Cleveland State University’s Fenn College of Engineering on June 4, 1970. Nearly 170 students and faculty members participated. Since that time, the ceremony has been adopted by several other engineering colleges throughout the United States. Ring ceremonies are conducted by “links” or local sections of the Order; there are currently 189 links in the United States and Cleveland State’s Fenn College is Link 1.

The event that takes place at Cleveland State is similar to the Canadian “Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer,” initiated there in 1925 after the Quebec Bridge collapse of 1907 convinced Canadian engineers that there were consequences for failing to adhere to professional standards.

Other ceremonies like it have since spread across the United States, and graduating and registered engineers from more than 30 states have accepted the Obligation of the Engineer and wear the stainless steel rings. In the U.S. today there are tens of thousands of inductees. Cleveland State’s Fenn College of Engineering has inducted more than 1,700 engineers.

The Obligation that students recite at the ceremony is a creed that sets forth an ethical code of conduct for engineers. Students pledge to uphold the standards and dignity of the engineering profession and to serve humanity by making efficient use of the world’s resources. The rings further serve to remind students to persist in their pursuit of excellence.

Following the ceremony students and guests will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from local engineering firms, faculty members and view the College’s displays of projects and ongoing research.

For more information, please contact Gregg Schoof, Manager of Engineering Programs, Cleveland State University’s Fenn College of Engineering at 216.687.5272.

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