Brief History
Tau Beta Pi was founded at Lehigh University in 1885 by Dr. Edward Higginson Williams, Jr., “to mark in a fitting manner those who have conferred honor upon their Alma Mater by distinguished scholarship and exemplary character as undergraduates in engineering, or by their attainments as alumni in the field of engineering, and to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges.” Currently, Tau Beta Pi National is composed of 232 active Chapters and has initiated 490,480 members around the country.
Benefits of Joining
- Academic Distinction
Being part of Tau Beta Pi places you in the top 1/5 of engineering seniors and top 1/8 of engineering juniors at Stanford University (the closest thing that Stanford has to a Dean’s List). This honor is recognized across the country in both academic and professional institutions.
- Community of Excellence
Tau Beta Pi is the only organization on campus that is privileged to have a distinguished community of scholars from multiple engineering disciplines. We focus our community by putting members in touch with high-profile members of the industry who are interested in intelligent students with a technical background. It is a great way to meet and network with high-caliber and high-profile people.
- Fellowships and Scholarships
Tau Beta Pi offers many merit-based awards for members including a $10,000 graduate fellowship and a $2,000 senior-year scholarship to encourage technical excellence in engineering.
- Completing the Engineering Experience
Tau Beta Pi at Stanford hosts many social, corporate, and service events exclusively for our members. These events are intended to add value to a Stanford engineer’s experience unlike any other organization on campus. Members have the opportunity not only to network with other outstanding engineers from various fields, but also to impart their knowledge and experience onto engineering underclassmen.
Candidacy Requirements
Please note that attendance will be taken at all mandatory events, so please make sure you sign in with our attendance directors, Pao Siangliulue and Serena Yeung. In order to keep track of all attendance related issues, please address all potential event absences or any attendance inquires to Serena Yeung at syyeung@stanford.edu.
To be assigned to a house, a candidate must send an e-mail to syyeung@stanford.edu expressing intent to participate in the Fall 2009 Initiation by Saturday, Nov. 7th, 2009.
General Structure:
Each candidate will be required to attend 2 general events: the Information Session Barbeque and Broomball. In addition, a candidate will be assigned to one of seven houses.
With their houses, candidates will participate in the TBP Mini Olympics and a service project. Through these activities, houses will accumulate points and compete for a prize at the end of the initiation process.
A. Fellowship & Social Requirements
The following fellowship events are required of all candidates:
1. Information Session Barbeque: Saturday October 31st, 2009 12pm – 1:30pm @ Mirrieless BBQ Pit
2. Broomball: Friday November 13st, 2009, 6-9pm (venue TBA)
3. TBP Mini Olympics for Mind and Body: All candidates must attend at least one of the two offered events. A candidate who attends both events scores bonus points for his or her house. If no candidate from a house participates, the house is deducted points.
a. TBP Mini Olympics -- Prelims: Saturday January 9th, 2009 (about 2 hours, time and venue TBA)
b. TBP Mini Olympics -- Finals: Saturday January 23rd, 2009 (about 2 hours, time and venue TBA)
The following fellowship event is optional, highly encouraged:
1. Little Big Game: Saturday November 21st @ Stanford, time TBA
B. Service Requirements
Each house will be required to complete one service project as a group. The service project can be anything related to engineering, either on or off the Stanford campus. Each candidate is expected to spend 5 hours on his or her house’s service project. A current TBP officer will serve as an advisor for each house. In order to complete the services requirement, each house must also submit a brief write-up and slide show of its service project by January 25th, 2010.
*One house will take the responsibility of organizing TBP’s annual Engineering Reorientation event in January. If you are interested in being a part of this house, please state so in your intent-to-initiate e-mail, along with your major(s). The house will be selected based on majors and first-come-first-serve basis.
C. Initiation Process
- Submit your Resume for the TBP Resume Book to tbp.stanford@gmail.com by January 30th, 2010. Please submit both .doc and .pdf versions and named <Last Name>.<First Name>.pdf/doc.
- Submit your Candidate Application by January 30th, 2010
Candidate applications will be sent out early January. Submitting the candidate application is the last step in the candidacy process before initiation. Upon successful acceptance of the application and successful completion of all candidate requirements, a candidate can be officially elected to be initiated.
- Attend Initiation Ceremony and Banquet on Saturday February 6th, 2010
To officially become a member of Tau Beta Pi, you must attend the initiation ceremony. If you absolutely cannot make initiation, you can complete your candidacy requirements now and initiate in the fall ceremony next year, or under extreme circumstances, we might be able to arrange for you to initiate at another chapter.
At the ceremony, the following must be completed:
a. Pay Lifetime Membership Fee of $65
b. Fill out Candidate card and questionnaire
