Wow, 70 years!

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the STLE celebrated 50 years with fireworks in Pittsburgh (1994) and held the 50th Annual Meeting in Chicago the following year (Editor’s Note: we’ll be in Chicago again in 2020 for our 75th anniversary).  I joined the STLE 24 years ago and have enjoyed every minute.  My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier in my career.  I attended my first Annual Meeting in Denver in 1990 and took advantage of several excellent education courses along with the technical sessions.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the same sense of family and camaraderie between the attendees at the Annual Meeting as I was quickly finding within the local Alberta Section. 

Due to the great people involved with the Alberta Section at that time, and my normal commitment to help whenever I can, it didn’t take very long for me to jump in head first.  Within no time I was helping out the Alberta Section as a Program Director and have continued on the Section executive ever since.  In addition, I quickly found myself helping out internationally on one of the Industry Councils and more recently, on the Education Committee. 

This year will be 20 years since I successfully challenged the CLS exam and about 9 years ago for the OMA.   The CLS, OMA as well as the other STLE certification programs have been a great addition to the Society and have also helped members develop and measure their lubrication knowledge.

For the last 6 years I have had the sincere pleasure to serve the Society on the Board of Directors.  I really didn’t think it was possible that my association with the society, and its members, could get any better than it already was but being able to work on the Board has truly been an honor.   I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the STLE Staff.  Their time and dedication is second to none.

Being an active member of the STLE has truly been a pleasure.  The number of benefits that I personally have received from the STLE are too numerous to count.  The depth of knowledge that I have absorbed from the Society and from my participating colleagues has made a significant contribution on my career path and status today. It would be an understatement to suggest that I wouldn't be in my present job if it wasn't for the influence of the STLE on my lubrication knowledge and personal development.

Happy 70th Birthday STLE.  I’m so glad I got to witness the last 24 years, and I wish I could ride along for the next 70 to come.

-Paul Hetherington, Petro-Canada Lubricants, Inc., STLE Board Member

Special Message from our President, Rob Heverly

In honor of our 70th anniversary, take a moment to view a special message from our President, Rob Heverly:



Do you have any memories, stories or photos that you'd like to share with the community, focusing on your experiences with STLE? If so, please send them to anniversary@stle.org. We look forward to hearing your views and history with the organization!

STLE: Happy 70th!

STLE has clearly reached another milestone in its growth and development as a relevant society serving the Tribological world and the Lubricants industry.  Happy Birthday STLE!

STLE’s path to 70, like that of most people, is a growth process marked by many shifts and changes which have molded and tempered the organization into what it is today.  Most of my career has been in some form of research and development with various divisions in two different companies.  If we didn't create change: new services, products and processes, we didn't survive.  Indeed, it is some these changes in STLE that I would like to note here.

When I joined STLE in 1981, we were strongly driven by the technical program at the annual meeting.  Most papers were also critiqued by a notable expert in the area in a five or ten minute presentation following the paper as well as the typical question and answer session.  Let me tell you the ‘fur got to flying” in some of those sessions!  At the time, the Aerospace Industry Council, Solid Film Lubricants, Non-ferrous, and Seals technical committees were very strong.  They, on their own, hosted astronauts to speak, published their own technical books and manuals, and even held independent mini-conferences in their subject areas.  The only other activity at the annual meeting was the hospitality suites sponsored by various member companies.  This was their only real chance to interact with current or potential customers other than in the hallways and at an off-site restaurant.

Then, beginning in the late 1980s through the leadership of BOD member, Ed Kane, we began a golf outing, and later a trade show area, and the commercial marketing forum.  These changes caused a real fur-fight among many of our members.  Some claiming that all these commercial activities would dilute the technical program, that STLE would lose its technical reputation, change the whole temperament of the annual meeting and the society in general, etc., etc.  While others said, “We (Industry) are paying for everything anyway; we ought to get something out the meeting.” Further, they said  these changes would broaden the scope and content of society, add new members and companies, increase revenues, etc., etc.

And, indeed that is just what happened. The society is more than double in size and now there is something for everyone and yet STLE’s technical reputation is still intact.

Another big change, initially spearheaded by past-president John Hermann, who is now with ExxonMobil, was the increased emphasis on developing an international presence.  This prompted, in 1987, the change in the name of the society from the American Society of Lubrication Engineers (ASLE) to the current name to reflect our more international outlook.  Needless to say, there was again a lot of fur-flying over that change.  As late as 1998, when I joined STLE’s staff and would visit various sections, there were people who would still tell me that it was the stupidest thing we ever did.  We really didn't quite know how to develop international relationships and are still learning, but we have come a very long way from those early US/Canada centric days: we currently have ongoing relationships with many groups: in North America – ASME, SME, ABMA, and ILMA; we are members of the International Tribology Council (ITC) and STLE hosted 2005 World Tribology Congress; and we have active joint programs in: Asia (JSTLE, KSTLE, CTI and TSI), Africa (SAIT and Ghana), Europe (OilDoc, LubMat and UEIL), South America (Bolivia), and Caribbean (Trinidad).  Somehow, we seem, yet, to have survived again.

Probably the biggest sea-change, that caused loud shouting in Board meetings and elsewhere, was the introduction of the Certified Lubrication Specialist program (CLS) in 1993.  There were those who said that we would make ourselves open to law suits, we would no longer be viewed as a technical society, we don’t know how to do it, and we don’t have the resources to administer it.  And, indeed, we learned some harsh lessons along the way, but we steadily learned and grew the program and added new certifications as well.  Our credibility in the marketplace is excellent, about 1/3 of our members hold some kind of certification and those certified according Lube ‘N’ Greases magazine earn more money and have more people reporting to them than their uncertified peers.  So, I guess, once again, we seemed to have survived.

Now we have broadened the way people can access the Society utilizing technology solutions.  Again we are still learning, but now have live and archived webinars; podcasts; digital publishing of three organs: TLT, Letters and Transactions; Tribology Netbase, an online electronic library; and online membership directory; and social media tools: Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, this STLE Blog.

So, once again to me, change is normal, or it had better be, without change you won’t survive.  The proof of that is STLE turning 70 this year, certainly different from when I joined, but stronger and better than ever.

Happy Birthday!

-Robert Gresham, Director of Professional Development, STLE

STLE is Turning 70!

STLE was founded March 3, 1944, making this year our 70th anniversary. Join us in celebrating next week (and all month) – we’ll have lots of great activities, drawings, events and more for members including a chance to participate in our celebration!

Ways you can participate:

• Contribute to the STLE history sampling by sending a photo, story or memory
• Submit a tribology or lubrication best practice or tip for our special feature in TLT
• Register for our FREE webinar on 3/6, "Tribology, Force and Motion from Ancient Egypt to Present Time," given by Rafael Tadmor, Lamar University | Register Now! Note: Limited to first 100 registrants (all others can sign up to view the recording). 
• Win STLE swag at your local section
• Follow @STLE_Tribology on Twitter for unique and fun facts about STLE, including an infographic about the organization (coming soon!)
• Watch a quick video message from our President, Robert Heverly

Submissions can be sent to anniversary@stle.org – you may see your story in TLT, on our website, or in another outlet related to our anniversary.

And a big THANK YOU to all of our members and supporters - we wouldn't be the same organization without you!