Skip to Content

About SEC

What is SEC? | What does SEC do? | How can I get involved? | Acknowledgements

What is SEC?

SEC LogoThe Student Engineers’ Council (SEC) is the representative body for all students in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. Formed by the Dean of Engineering in 1939, the SEC represents the concerns of engineering students and professional societies to the college administration and to the university as a whole.

The mission of the SEC targets three main areas; it strives to be the representative voice of all engineering students; it works to increase engineering awareness through its programs and events; and it fosters the professional advancement of all engineering students within the College of Engineering. These three facets of the Council's mission are carried out through several committees in its Internal, External, and Development divisions.

The Council holds general meetings every Monday evening, during which issues facing the College and the University are discussed, corporate representatives speak, and Council business is conducted. The Council consists of around 110 members, all belonging to one of the Council's fourteen committees. These committees, led by one or two committee chairs, each work to fulfill a certain part of the SEC mission.

One fundamental aspect of the Council's representative duties is the communication and involvement with engineering societies. Many engineering societies within the College of Engineering designate a Society Representative who attends all SEC meetings and serves as the liason between the SEC and the engineering society. Through these Society Representatives, the SEC is able to disseminate information to many engineering students and learn of issues faced by students within the College.

What does SEC do?

The Council has several committees that target the several aspects of SEC's mission statement. These committees host events, support the Council, and represent all engineering students within the College of Engineering.

The Council is divided into three divisions: Internal, External, and Development.

Internal Division

The Internal division targets the representative voice aspect of the mission statement. The Internal committees include Legislation, Society Relations, Marketing, Membership, Internal Relations, and Systems Administration.

  • Legislation -- The Legislation committee is responsible for drafting a survey administered each semester to all engineering students asking them questions about their experiences within and concerns about the College. The committee analyzes the results and presents recommendations to the engineering deans and department heads at the Faculty Dinner, which is held at the end of each semester. At the dinner, the committee members and several other respresentatives from SEC discuss issues and concerns with the College administration.  The Legislation committee is also responsible for relations with other Student Government Organizations.
  • Society and Graduate Relations -- The Society and Graduate Relations committee is responsible for maintaining relations with the several engineering societies across the campus. The committee hosts several events that bring members of the Council together with members of the various societies.
  • Marketing -- The Marketing Committee is responsible for effectively and creatively promoting events hosted by the SEC and the College of Engineering. The committee members work closely with other SEC committees to develop and implement marketing materials and strategies needed to increase awareness of engineering events. The committee also develops a yearly planner called the Look Book which is distributed to engineering students at no cost.
  • Membership -- The Membership chair plays an integral role in the new member selection process by facilitating recruitment, informationals, and the application review/interviews. Along with this, the Membership chair assesses each semester’s point opportunities, assigns members to committees, and tracks member points.
  • Internal Relations -- The Internal Relations committee serves the Council's members by hosting social events, managing the SEC mentorship program, and planning the end-of-year banquet. The committee also organizes intramurals and hosts Parents' Weekend Brunch, an event for engineering students and their parents held during Texas A&M's Parents' Weekend.
  • Systems Administration -- The Systems Administration Committee contributes to SEC by developing technologies that ease the lives of council members and better disseminate information to the College of Engineering and surrounding community.  The committee is responsible for adding features and content to all existing website, and finding innovative ways to use the latest technology to help SEC fulfill its mission statement through the development of new internet services.  

External Division

The External division seeks to increase engineering awareness. The External committees include E-Week, FAME, Philanthropy, and TREC.

  • E-Week -- The National Engineers Week (E-Week) committee is responsible for spreading engineering to all other students on campus. The committee runs an entire week of events, usually in February, where the main goals are increasing engineering awareness and breaking the common engineering stereotypes. This is a very dynamic committee that can easily incorporate new ideas every year.
  • Spark Conference -- The Spark Conference committee hosts an annual k-12 conference for students who are interested in pursuing an engineering degree. The conference includes tours and information relating to all disciplines of engineering that are offered at Texas A&M. The event is typically held over one day in the Fall semester.
  • Philanthropy -- The Philanthropy committee organizes and leads SEC in community service events of all kinds, as well as hosting Engineering Day (E-Day) for young students each semester. Some typical philanthropy projects that are routinely performed are canned food drives, Angle Tree, Big Event, Replant, and Race for the Cure, just to name a few.
  • TREC -- The Texas A&M Regional Engineering Conference (TREC) committee hosts a design competition for students at Texas A&M and surrounding universities in the Central Region of the United States. The competition is usually hosted over two days in the Spring and is well known for its amazing prizes. Members develop the concept, build the track/area for competition, plan social events, and run the two day event in its entirety.

Development Division

The Development division targets the professional advancement aspect of the SEC mission statement. The Development committees include Career Fair, Corporate Relations, Engineering Development, and Finance.

  • Career Fair -- The Career Fair is SEC's largest and most visible event of the year. The goal of the Texas A&M Engineering Career Fair is to provide students with the opportunity to visit with recruiters from hundreds of companies seeking engineers for internships, co-ops, and full-time positions. The committee organizes and plans the career fair in both the Spring and Fall semesters. The event is held at Texas A&M's Reed Arena, where recruiters set up booths for their company. In the past, Texas A&M's Engineering Career Fair, the largest student-run career fair in the nation, has drawn in over 4,000 students to visit with more than 350 companies.
  • Corporate Relations -- The Corporate Relations chair is responsible for maintaining professional ties with corporations and the Council's corporate sponsors. The chair invites representatives from companies to speak at SEC General Council meetings and is responsible for providing companies with sponsorship information.
  • Engineering Development -- The ENGR 111/112 Department and Industry Night Presentations serve to increase students’ exposure to the wide variety of opportunities available within the Dwight Look College of Engineering and within the field of engineering after they graduate. Throughout the semester, the 2000+ students currently enrolled in an ENGR 111/112 course will have the opportunity to register for and attend presentations about: (1) the 13 different departments of the College of Engineering and (2) companies within the field of engineering.
  • Finance -- The Finance chair maintains all of SEC's finances. The committee collects member dues, processes Council expenditures and income, maintains the budgets for all committees within the organization, and communicates with the Student Organization Finance Center (SOFC).
  • ProTip -- ProTrip is an annual professional networking trip to expose SEC members to engineering opportunities outside of the state of Texas. The trip provides students with the opportunity to experience different engineering industries, professional workplaces, and the culture of a major U.S. city. Previous cities include San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Seattle.

Ad-hoc Committees

In addition to the three divisions, SEC also has ad-hoc committees which fulfill a number of various goals in the council.

How can I get involved?

Students can become involved with the Council in several ways. You can become an SEC member, you can join a professional society that is represented in the Council, or you can simply attend any of our various events throughout the school year.

The SEC General Council meetings, which are held every Monday evening at 8:15 PM, are open to all engineering students. You can attend these meetings to learn more about what the Council does and voice your opinion about issues facing the College.

Membership

Every semester new members are admitted to the Council through an application process. Students submit an application and go through an interview to be selected as a member.

Engineering Societies

Each professional society in the Dwight Look College of Engineering may send a representative to SEC meetings. These society representatives are full members in SEC. They act as liaisons between the societies and the Council. As representatives, they speak for their societies when they voice an opinion on an issue concerning the college.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Jo Howze

He served as the senior associate dean of engineering, assistant director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, and department head of Electrical Engineering. More information on Dr. Howze can be found here.

The Engineering Excellence Award was created by the Student Engineers’ Council (SEC) to recognize an individual who exhibits outstanding leadership, academics and service in the Dwight Look College of Engineering and University. This award will be given annually at the SEC Award Banquet in the spring.



Dr. W Dan Turner

He served as the dean for undergraduate programs, the director of the Energy Systems Lab and department head of Mechanical Engineering. More information on Dr. Turner can be found here or at beeusa.com.

The Engineering Leadership Award was created by Student Engineers' Council (SEC) to recognize an individual who exhibits outstanding leadership in the Dwight Look College of Engineering.  This award will be given annually at the SEC Award Banquet in the spring.

Composite Photos


Previous Month March 2024 Next Month
S M T W R F S
27 28 29 30 31 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 1 2 3 4 5 6

Platinum Sponsors

Flint Hills (Koch) Phillips 66 Valero Energy Corporation Schlumberger