American Society for Precision Engineering

The American Society for Precision Engineering is a non-profit member association, founded in 1986, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and technology of precision engineering, to promote its dissemination through education and training, and its use by science and industry.
Overview.
The American Society for Precision Engineering (ASPE) focuses on many areas that are important in the research, design, development, manufacture and measurement of high accuracy components and systems. This collective discipline is known as Precision engineering, and includes precision controls, metrology, interferometry, materials, materials processing, nanotechnology, optical fabrication, precision optics, precision replication, scanning microscopes, semiconductor processing, standards and ultra-precision machining.
History.
There has long been a "community" of precision engineers within the United States but a formal structure and common focus for the activities was lacking. This was not the case in Japan, as evidenced by the large and active Japanese Society of Precision Engineers. In November 1985, a joint US-Japanese meeting on precision engineering included a special session to discuss the possibility of forming an American Society. The enthusiasm of the participants and the overwhelming response to a subsequent questionnaire provided momentum. By November 1986, the American Society for Precision Engineering was incorporated and held its first Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas. The theme of the well-attended meeting, "Thresholds in Precision Engineering," was reflected in 28 papers covering a broad spectrum of applications. At this meeting, a Board of Directors was elected with members drawn from industry, private laboratories, government and academia.
ASPE emphasizes the foundations necessary to achieve precision in any application and seeks to bring together practitioners from all of the related fields. The Annual Meeting, held each fall, presents topics spanning the field of precision engineering.
Publications.
The Society jointly publishes a peer-reviewed technical journal, "Precision Engineering: Journal of the International Societies of Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology", in cooperation with its European and Japanese counterparts.
Lifetime achievement award.
The American Society for Precision Engineering presents the ASPE Lifetime Achievement Award to individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of Precision Engineering.