When we suffer a tragedy, we want something good to come out of it.

In the early 1900s, a bridge in Quebec, Canada, collapsed from poor engineering. Many people died when the bridge collapsed.

During the rebuild, it became apparent that the new, improved bridge would not hold its own weight, much less the vehicles.

Rather than start over, they redesigned a bit and continued, citing concerns about staying on schedule and public appearance.

The hasty redesign was also inadequate. The bridge collapsed again, killing more people.

From these events, the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer was created.

This was an oath engineers made to practice their craft safely and responsibly.

The Order of the Engineer

Less than 50 years after Canadians started this ceremony, engineers from Ohio wanted to join. Due to legal restrictions, the Canadians could not share this ceremony.

Instead, the U.S. modified the organization into something that was their own: Order of the Engineer.

In 1970, the first U.S. members were inducted. In 1972, Missouri S&T started holding a ceremony on campus for newly graduated engineers.

Dec. 10, 2018, marked the first ceremony on Missouri State’s campus.

Drs. Joel Burken, Doug Carroll and Jeff Thomas led the ceremony.

Each engineer inducted receives a stainless-steel pinky ring.

“The original pinky rings were made from the steel in the collapsed bridge in Quebec,” Carroll said. “The ring is to remind us that public safety is the most important consideration in all engineering projects.”

Several graduates and professors were inducted.

• Lauryn Ash
• Aaron Boll
• Matthew Briand
• Joshua Brown
• Tia Clemens
• Dr. Rohit Dua, adjunct electrical engineering faculty
• Drew Edinger
• Mitchell Eutsler
• Brittany Martin
• Angela Nelson
• Sarah Piburn
• Dr. Matthew Pierson, associate professor of civil engineering
• Sarah Smedley
• Anthony Swanigan
• Dr. Sanjay Tewari, adjunct cooperative engineering faculty
• Shawn Van Horn
• Corey Weimer

Carroll, program director of cooperative engineering, hopes this ceremony becomes a tradition on campus. The ceremony would be held at the end of each semester for graduates and longtime engineers alike.