CONNECTION

2002 Roster Edition

 

"New" ISPE Membership Certificates Now Available
John S. Bennion, PE, Past President

The first time I walked into Walker Engineering my attention was immediately focused upon Les Walker's ISPE membership certificate, which hung conspicuously above the door to his office. I'm sure that our more experienced ISPE members know exactly what I'm talking about: the beautiful, oversized and ornate certificate with the waterfall and the theodolite that announces to the world that you are an active member of the Idaho Society of Engineers. I was so struck by the certificate that I resolved as President of ISPE to resurrect the original certificate so that all of our members could proudly display their own membership certificate at their offices.

However, locating the source of the certificate proved to be a difficult and ultimately unsuccessful task, and engraving a new batch of certificates from scratch would have been much too expensive. So, with the help of Steve Walker, we attempted to digitally photograph the certificate to produce new engraving plates that could be used to print new certificates. But the results were quite unsatisfactory because there was no detail in the ornamental filigree that borders the certificate. Steve then suggested that we scan the certificate to generate a digital file, which would allow us to revise some of the outdated features present on Les's certificate, like changing the name on the certificate, certificate number, and the issue date as well to reflect the transition from the 1900s into the new millennium.

With the assistance of Jeff Bingham, a part-time Walker Engineering employee and full-time mechanical engineering student at Idaho State University (and an ISPE Student Member), Steve was able to obtain an excellent digital reproduction that looks as good as the original. The size of the certificate has been reduced to an 8-1/2" x 11" format to fit standard-size frames. The result is shown above. These certificates are now available and will be produced for all new and existing ISPE members. We expect that you will receive your certificate within the next few weeks.

Many thanks to Steve Walker, Jeff Bingham and Walker Engineering for a job well done, and for making this project a reality.