Links

Recommended Reading Materials 
Scientific Elites and Scientific Illiterates by Dr. David Goodstein (Caltech)
of the "Mechanical Universe" fame
 
Professional Societies

ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
ASM International (American Society of Metals)
SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineering)
AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

Local Area Interests

ASME Western Washington Section
PSEC (Puget Sound Engineering Council)
Washington State Department of Licensing (Engineering)

Mechanical Design Interests

Intellectual Property (by Prof. McCarthy, UC Irvine)
Patent for Engineers (by Prof. McCarthy, UC Irvine)
Gearhob (General Mechanical Design Resource)
United States Patent & Trademark Office

Graduate Programs in Mechanical Engineering 
2006 USN&WR ranking in (parenthesis)

Within 300 miles of Seattle, WA
Washington (28)
Washington State (62)
Oregon State (85)
Portland State

Top 50 Programs

MIT (1)
Stanford (2)
Caltech (3)
UC Berkeley (3)
UIUC (5)

Michigan (5)
Georgia Tech (7)
Cornell (8)
Purdue (8)
Carnegie Mellon (10)
Northwestern (10)
Princeton (10)
UT Austin (10)
Penn State (14)
Wisconsin
(14)
UCLA (16)
UC San Diego (16)
Minnesota (16)
Virginia Tech (16)
Johns Hopkins (20)
Ohio State (20)
Rensselaer (20)
Texas A&M (20)
Maryland (24)
UCSB (25)

UPenn (25)
USC (25)
Rice (28)
UC Davis (28)
Washington (28)
Arizona State (31)
Case Western (31)
Columbia (31)
Duke (31)
Florida (31)
Michigan State (36)
NC State (36)
Rutgers (36)
UC Irvine (36)
Virginia (36)
Yale (36)
Iowa State (42)
Lehigh (42)
Arizona (42)
Colorado (42)
Notre Dame (42)
Delaware (47)
Vanderbilt (47)
Washington U.
in St. Louis
(47)
Dartmouth (50)
Drexel (50)
IIT (50)
Michigan Tech (50)
Iowa (50)
UMass (50)
UM Rolla (50)