It all started with a question.

Late into the Fall 2010 semester, then-Chapter President Bill Johns sent an email to National Secretary-Treasurer Dr. Alex Moutsoglou asking whether Pi Tau Sigma had any form of alumni associations or networks.  As it turned out, no such structures existed for PTS.  Mr. Johns sent Dr. Moutsoglou a description of the alumni association program being used by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity (with the blessing of SAE's then-National Executive Director Steven Priepke), of which Mr. Johns is an alumnus.  The proposal consisted of two distinct types of alumni groups: 1) area-based alumni associations for those alumni residing in a common geographical area, without regard to their original chapter of initiation; and 2) chapter-based alumni associations for those alumni having been initiated by the same chapter, without regard to where they now reside.  Dr. Moutsoglou liked the idea and invited Mr. Johns to present the proposal at the 2011 National Convention in Chicago.

Arriving in Chicago on Friday, February 11, 2011, Mr. Johns discovered he had been appointed Chairman of the Infrastructure, National Officers, Alumni Activities, and New Initiatives breakout session.  Action items for this committee were to discuss nominations to be made for three national offices up for election and the proposal authored by Mr. Johns on behalf of the California Sigma Eta Chapter to amend Pi Tau Sigma's national constitution and bylaws to permit the creation of alumni associations.  The discussion in this committee on the subject of the alumni association proposal was unanimously in favor of establishing the program with some debate entertained regarding the specifics of how it ought best to be set up.  By the end of the meeting, a consensus was achieved to everyone's satisfaction.

On the morning of Saturday, February 12th, the Chairperson of each breakout session presided in turn at the main plenary session over their committee's respective action items and submitted topics to discussion and a vote by the general convention members.  After only two brief clarifying questions, the alumni association proposal was approved by a unanimous vote.  There was a question raised as to whether the Convention had sufficient authority to amend the national constitution and bylaws; the same governing documents were reviewed that evening and the results announced the following morning that with the approval of the National Board of Directors -- which was obtained -- the vote on the Convention floor was final.  By the end of the closing breakfast on Sunday the 13th at which that announcement was made, three members of the Michigan Pi Rho Chapter at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, approached Dr. Moutsoglou and announced their intention to form the first such alumni association to be chartered by PTS.  The Greater Indianapolis Area Alumni Association was subsequently chartered on February 24, 2011.

On the evening of May 4, 2011, the California Sigma Eta Chapter held their final meeting of the academic year at which the 2011-2012 officers were installed.  Immediately after the adjournment of that meeting, the founding meeting of the California Sigma Eta Alumni Association was held.  Those present were Aaron Arnold, Deedee Banh, Bill Johns, Kim Schrock, Ellen Skow, Allen Teagle-Hernandez, and Charlton Thayn; in addition, Chapter alumni and past-presidents Paul Berge' and Mike Clifford joined though they reside out of the area and were thus unable to attend.  The group approved a constitution and bylaws (based largely on the Chapter's governing documents) and elected the officers listed below, receiving the second alumni association Charter issued by PTS on May 4, 2011, and becoming the first chapter-based association:

President:                    Bill Johns
Vice President:            Aaron Arnold
Secretary-Treasurer:   Allen Teagle-Hernandez

The spirit and intent behind not only the founding of the California Sigma Eta Alumni Association, but of the action taken at the 2011 Convention, is that the alumni groups thus formed will serve as a support network for the undergraduates and alumni members alike, that we may all become better educated in the world of professional mechanical engineering, and that we might have a means by which we may remember that we are not just a line item on a resume, but a society.