| Abstract | The future generation of members includes students and emerging professionals. Student programs are typically well established, but emerging professionals are a unique demographic often overlooked because they are difficult to define. What is an emerging professional? Within SEG, an emerging professional is defined as a graduate with less than eight years of industry experience; however, capturing statistics is problematic since there is no formal membership category like there is for a student. Therefore, supporting the needs of these members is very challenging. In 2014, SEG took the first step in solving this issue with the inception of the Emerging Professionals International Committee (EPIC), the goal of which is to keep emerging professionals engaged within the Society. At the 2015 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, EPIC had its first social networking event that brought together professionals, emerging professionals, and graduate students. With each passing year, EPIC continues to define an identity and seek support from SEG in building its foundation. In the past year, EPIC social events have been held at a local scale, from Houston to Lisbon, and with many more scheduled for 2017. |
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