# Joining SIPB
We are MIT's volunteer student computing group, improving computing at
MIT since 1969. Today, SIPB projects provide innovative services and
special expertise to the MIT community. We have an office just
outside the Athena cluster in the student center W20, and you are
welcome to come by to ask us for help or to hang around and use our
computers.
## Membership
If you are interested in contributing to SIPB's computing services and
in helping users with unusual computing questions, consider becoming a
member. Full membership in SIPB is granted after sustained
contribution to the organization, and confers several benefits:
- A permanent Athena account.
- A key to the SIPB office in W20, and a storage drawer in the SIPB office.
- A vote at SIPB meetings and (for current students) elections.
Prospective members interested in becoming full members should attend
our weekly meetings regularly, participate in SIPB activities like
hackathons, cluedumps, and IAP classes, and either create a new SIPB
project or help with some existing SIPB projects. This process
generally takes about a term of active participation.
## The office
Prospective members are encouraged to hang out in the SIPB office
anytime it is open, which it is on a typical weekday afternoon and
evening. We strive to make it a fun and comfortable place to work on
projects, homework, or anything else by providing an array of amenities:
- Nice chairs, big monitors, many computers, table space for laptops
- Music: ours (CDs or LAMP) or yours (via AirTunes or a certain "printer")
- Tons of equipment and supplies from video adapters to an oscilloscope to Band-Aids
- A diverse technical library, including popular textbooks
- Soda and snacks for late-night sessions, cheaper and closer than Verde's
## You
If you have any questions about SIPB or the SIPB membership process,
or ideas for projects, feel free to either drop by our office
(W20-557) or contact the Chair at sipb-chair@mit.edu.