During his sophomore year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Maurice L. Carr came up with the idea of establishing a collegiate society of electrical engineering students. He first mentioned the idea to a friend of his named Charles E. Armstrong or “Army”. Armstrong agreed with the idea and the two decided to share it with other classmates. Their first formal meeting was on Friday, September 23, 1904. Two days later, Armstrong and Carr effected a meeting with three other classmates. Soon thereafter the number of members increased to ten. During the next five weeks, the original members chose the name, emblem, policies, membership qualifications, and induction ritual for their new society. Then, on October 28, 1904, the first induction meeting was held. Otto Wiemer became the first formal initiate. The organization later received recognition from the university administration.