The SWE Orange County Section was originally part of the SWE Los Angeles Section. In the early 1980s, the Los Angeles section had more than 400 members and was the largest section in the nation. With members dispersed across both counties and with the section as large as it was, it made sense to charter a new section. On February 10, 1985, the section received its official charter. It had been four years in the making, but through strong will and determination, it all paid off. Today, the SWE-OC section is still continuing to grow. SWE-OC has approximately 153 professional members.
Student sections affiliated with SWE-OC are California State University - Fullerton, California State University - Long Beach, the University of California - Irvine, and the University of California - Riverside.