The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles.  Their objective was to form a national organization of professional engineers to serve as role models in the Hispanic community.   Networking was the unifying goal of the organization, and SHPE quickly established two student chapters to begin the network that would grow to span the nation as well as reach countries outside the United States.  Today, SHPE is a strong, independent network of professional and student chapters throughout the world.

The University of Pennsylvania SHPE chapter was founded in 1987 and has grown
significantly in recent years. SHPE is comprised of 7 regions throughout the United States, with the Penn SHPE chapter belonging to Region 4, which includes schools across 15 states and territories in the northeast and Puerto Rico.