The General Association of Engineers of Romania () is a non-governmental professional organization of engineers in Romania, with the objectives of promoting industrial culture and supporting the professional activity of engineers by highlighting achievements.
Professional associations of engineers were established in Romania as early as the 19th century, when in 1876 the Society of Engineers and Architects was created, but the first viable association was the Polytechnic Society, established in 1881 on the occasion of the inauguration of the BuzÃÂu-MÃÂrÃÂÃÂeÃÂti railway, the first railway in Romania designed and executed by Romanian engineers. The first president of the Polytechnic Society was ÃÂtefan FÃÂlcoianu, honorary president being Dimitrie Sturdza. Subsequently, among the presidents of the society were personalities such as Anghel Saligny and Elie Radu.
In 1918, the General Association of Engineers of Romania was established in IaÃÂi. The stated aim was to "organizse and increase the knowledge and working power of engineers (...), in order to make the most use in the work of restoring the country (...), solidarity and support for their professional interests". The first president of AGIR was Gheorghe BalÃÂ, and one of the next was Nicolae Vasilescu-Karpen.
In 1949 the two associations merged under the name of the Scientific Association of Technicians (AST), president being the academic Nicolae Profiri, who at that time was the president of both the Polytechnic Society and AGIR. The name of the association was changed from 1951 to 1962 to the Scientific Association of Engineers and Technicians (ASIT), and from 1962 to 1989 to the National Council of Engineers and Technicians (CNIT).
In 1990 the association resumed its name as the "General Association of Engineers of Romania".
Over the years, engineering associations have been supported by personalities such as Spiru Haret, Ion I. C. BrÃÂtianu, VintilÃÂ I.C. BrÃÂtianu, Constantin F. Robescu, Traian Lalescu, Gheorghe ÃÂiÃÂeica, Nicolae Zane, and George Nestor.
The General Association of Engineers of Romania is registered in the European Commission's database as a potential partner in projects covering the engineering and educational fields. It has a library with 22,000 titles, including The Encyclopædia Britannica, the Romanian Technical Lexicon. It has the following publications:
The Scientific Symposium of Romanian Engineers of Everywhere (SINGRO) is a scientific communication session organized every two years, with the aim of facilitating the exchange of experience between Romanian engineers in the world, without excluding other people with compatible concerns.
The 12th session of SINGRO, having the theme "Solutions for an intelligent cityâÂÂ, was organized in Craiova, on September 8âÂÂ9, 2016, in cooperation with the University of Craiova. Engineers from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, France, Switzerland and Bulgaria took part.
The General Association of Engineers of Romania recognizes meritorious activity in engineering by the following awaerds: