The Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. was chartered by the State of Michigan on August 21, 1942, at which time the Society consisted of 120 members in good standing. Predecessor to SPE was the Society of Plastics Sales Engineers, organized at a meeting in Detroit on December 2, 1941.

SPE has become the recognized medium of communication among scientists and engineers engaged in the development, conversion and applications of plastics. It is truly an international society since a significant number of its members reside outside the United States. The objective of the Society is “to provide and promote the scientific and engineering knowledge relating to plastics.”

The Society of Plastics Engineers, recognizing that students of today are tomorrow’s plastics professionals, has shown an interest in student members since the establishment of the Student Member grade in 1960. The first Student Chapter was founded that year at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, Massachusetts. Since that time, more than 175 schools have chartered SPE Student Chapters. The purpose of a Student Chapter is to supplement that students’ formal education and enhance their professional development.

Educational institutions offering a polymer curriculum are encouraged to form an SPE Student Chapter. The Society remains firm in its commitment to support a strong Student Member program.

Department of Polymer Engineering has established the Student Chapter of Society of Plastic Engineering at National Textile University. The founding graduate students include Muhammad Tahir Khan (President), Ahsan Ahmed (Vice-President), Khadija Zubair (Secretary), Ahmed Nadeem, Muhammad Umer Farooq, Junaid Asghar, Syed Moazzam Bukhari, Abdul Moeed, Muhammad Awais, Saad Rizwan, Muhammad Mohsin. The faculty advisors for this University Chapter are Dr. Yasir Nawab and Engineer Iqra Abdul Rashid.

Student Members of SPE have all the privileges of SPE membership afforded to other member grades, including:

• Free student’s membership
• Plastics Engineering magazine every month
• Reduced registration for all educational seminars
• Discounts on training publications
• Insurance programs
• Reduced registration at ANTEC and other technical conferences
• Access to Career Solutions, SPE’s Online Career site
• Scholarships offered through the SPE Foundation, SPE Sections and Divisions
• Access to Online Technical Library and other technical resources
• Professional contacts