Why should I start a PBE Chapter?
Get recognized for your academic and personal achievement
Membership in Rho Beta Epsilon is a great way to show both your academic mastery, demonstrated through course success and technical proficiency, and your personal leadership. Similar to other technical honors societies like Tau Beta Pi and Upsilon Pi Epsilon, Rho Beta Epsilon membership is a nationally recognized marker of the best robotics engineering has to offer.
Connect to fellow robotics engineers in academia and the workfoce
Rho Beta Epsilon has over 400 alumni working at top robotics companies including Boston Dynamics, Amazon Robotics, SpaceX, and Tesla. By joining the organization, student members gain access to this network of alumni and can benefit from both professional advice and connections. Members can also connect to chapters at other schools, helping find opportunities for research and further education.
Foster a stronger community within your university
Rho Beta Epsilon members are responsible for fostering a strong community within their larger robotics engineering community. They organize events and workshops that benefit the entire robotics community and serve as a liaison with university faculty to voice student concerns. Members are also given tools to helps out in labs and during high-stress times like finals week or course selection, empowering members as department leaders while supporting the robotics community at the chapter’s host school.
How do I know if my school can have a chapter?
Any college or university with an undergraduate or graduate degree in robotics engineering is eligible for a PBE chapter!
Wait wait wait, robotics engineering? What’s that?
Robotics combines engineering, computer science, and AI to create machines for various tasks. Here at PBE, we consider robotics engineering as any degree program that combines mechanical, electrical, and computer enginering, along with computer science, into one course of study. Coursework in robotics covers most of the following topics: sensing, actuation, manipulation, planning, kinematics, and control. Robotics coursework should also include a substantial amount of project work involving designing, building, and testing real world robots.
Some schools may have official degrees in robotics engineering. Other schools might treat this as a ‘focus’ within a larger department, or have qualifying degrees in topics like mechatronics, automation, or artificial inteliigence.
Some examples of eligible programs include:
Awesome! So who can be a Rho Beta Epsilon member?
To be a member of Rho Beta Epsilon, you need to:
- Be enrolled at a college or university with an active PBE chapter
- Undergrads need to have completed three semesters
- Grads need to have completed one semester
- Be seeking a degree (BS, MS, or PhD) or a minor in robotics engineering, or your school’s equivalent
- Demonstrate exceptional knowledge of robotics at your school, by taking:
- Two robotics classes at an intermediate (sophomore) level or above as an undergraduate student
- One robotics class at the graduate level or above as a graduate student
- Demonstrate mastery of a set of technical questions posed by your local chapter (if you’re starting a chapter, the national PBE board will help evaluate potential members)
and most importantly,
- Exemplify the values of Rho Beta Epsilon!
That’s me! So how do I start a chapter?
- Find at least nine interested students who believe in growing the robotics community and promoting engineering for everyone, and are willing to help lead your new chapter as your first group of society officers. These students will need to submit resumes demonstrating their academic and personal excellence and coursework in robotics engineering.
- Find a faculty adviser - someone who your new officers trust and respect. They’ll help you resolve conflicts, ensure compliance with university regulations, and connect your new society to department faculty. Your adviser should also be prepared to endorse your founding members as exemplary members of your school’s robotics program.
- Develop a set of proposed bylaws, laying out how your new chapter will function and how it will foster your school’s robotics community. Check out our templates page for help getting started.
Ok, I’ve done all that. What now?
Reach out to the Rho Beta Epsilon National Board (they’re the ones who made this website!). They’ll help answer any questions you still have or provide support to make the How to Start a Chapter steps easier.
When you’re ready, send the National Board your list of proposed members, your faculty adviser, and your drafted bylaws via email at rho-beta-epsilon-nationals@googlegroups.com. The Board will review your information and determine whether you meet the criteria to be an active chapter of Rho Beta Epsilon.
What happens after that?
If the Board accepts your application, your new chapter will be officially recognized! The National Board will help you with the next steps to ensuring your chapter can recruit new members and become a valuable piece of your school’s robotics program!
If the Board doesn’t accept your application, they’ll work with you to update your applications materials as needed to make reapplying easy.