SAE International

History

In the early 1900s there were dozens of automobile manufacturers in the United States, and many more worldwide. Auto manufacturers and parts companies joined trade groups that promoted business. A desire to solve common technical design problems and develop engineering standards was emerging. Engineers in the automobile business expressed a desire to have "free exchange of ideas" in order to expand their individual technical knowledge base.

Two magazine publishers, Peter Heldt of The Horseless Age, and Horace Swetland of The Automobile were advocates of the concepts for SAE. Heldt wrote an editorial in June 1902 in which he said, "Now there is a noticeable tendency for automobile manufacturers to follow certain accepted lines of construction, technical questions constantly arise which seek solution from the cooperation of the technical men connected with the industry. These questions could best be dealt with by a technical society. The field of activity for this society would be the purely technical side of automobiles."

Horace Swetland wrote on automotive engineering concerns, and became an original SAE officer. About two years after Heldt's editorial, the Society of Automobile Engineers was founded in New York City. Four officers and five managing officers volunteered. In 1905 Andrew L. Riker served as president, and Henry Ford served as the society's first vice president. The initial membership was engineers with annual dues of US$10.

Over the first 10 years SAE membership grew steadily, and the society added full-time staff and began to publish a technical journal and a comprehensive compilation of technical papers, previously called SAE Transactions, which still exist today in the form of SAE International's Journals. By 1916 SAE had 1,800 members. At the annual meeting that year, representatives from the American Society of Aeronautic Engineers, the Society of Tractor Engineers, as well as representatives from the power boating industry made a pitch to SAE for oversight of technical standards in their industries. Aeronautics was a fledgling industry at that time. Early supporters of the concept of a society to represent aeronautical engineers were Thomas Edison, Glenn Curtiss, Glenn Martin, and Orville Wright.

Out of the meeting in 1916 came a new organization, to represent engineers in all types of mobility-related professions. SAE member Elmer Sperry created the term "automotive" from Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion) origins to represent any form of self powered vehicle. The Society of Automobile Engineers became the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Charles Kettering presided over SAE during World War I and saw membership pass the 5,000 mark. During this time, SAE emphasized the importance of developing member activity through local chapters - called Sections. After World War II, the Society established links with other standards bodies and automotive engineering societies worldwide, and since then has founded sections in countries including: Brazil, India, China, Russia, Romania, and Egypt. By 1980, membership surpassed 35,000 and over the next two decades the society, like the industries and individuals it serves, became larger, more global, more diverse, and more electronic.

By the mid-1980s, membership edged close to 50,000; by the end of the 1990s, membership topped 80,000 with members in more than 80 countries.

As of 2016, the society serves more than 127,000 members, with more than a quarter from outside of North America.

Technical standards

SAE International provides a forum for companies, government agencies, research institutions and consultants to devise technical standards and recommended practices for the design, construction, and characteristics of motor vehicle components. SAE documents do not carry any legal force, but are in some cases referenced by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Transport Canada in those agencies' Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for the United States and Canada. Outside North America, SAE documents are generally not a primary source of technical provisions in vehicle regulations; the United Nations' World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations includes expert working parties to devise technical prescriptions. Ongoing harmonization efforts seek to bridge gaps between North American SAE technical prescriptions and the UN standards in use outside North America.

Ground vehicle standards

SAE publishes more than 1,600 technical standards and recommended practices for passenger cars and other roadgoing vehicles. These provide industry references for measurement of engine power, motor oil classification, tool and fastener sizes, and onboard diagnostic connectors and codes. SAE also publishes standards and recommended practices for headlamps and other vehicular lighting, brakes, automatic transmission fluid, communication networks, electric vehicle charging systems, vehicle ergonomics, and numerous other aspects of vehicle design, construction, performance, and durability.

Aerospace standards

SAE publishes over 6,400 technical documents for the aerospace industry. These include Aerospace Standards (AS), Aerospace Recommended Practices (ARP), and Aerospace Information Reports (AIR). Aerospace Standards apply to missile, airframe, ground-support equipment, propulsion, propeller, and accessory equipment. Aerospace Material Standards are a subset of Aerospace Standards governing materials science and engineering for aerospace applications. Aerospace Recommended Practices are recommendations for engineering practice. Aerospace Information Reports contain general accepted engineering data and information.

Events, conferences, meetings and symposia

SAE organizes or administers more than 25 international meetings and exhibitions each year that cover all aspects of technology related to design, manufacture, and total life cycle technology for the automotive, aerospace, off-highway, truck and bus, fuels and lubricants, and other related mobility industries. These events bring engineers and technical experts from around the world together to share information and network.

Each of the three industry sectors has a primary congress:

Other notable conferences include Convergence, the premier transportation electronics event (held biennially) and International Conference on Environmental Systems, focusing on manned space systems (held annually).

SAE Symposia are one-day to three-day events focused on emerging technologies, new applications to emerging technologies or other expanded technical subjects.

Additional activities and events are organized at the regional level through sections and collegiate chapters.

Professional development

The SAE mission statement emphasizes the organization's commitment to lifelong learning. In addition to conferences and meetings, SAE also offers more than 450 separate professional development events every year. Offerings include seminars, engineering academies and webinars, offered in the classroom and online. All seminars are approved for IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and Professional Development Hours (PDHs) for the professional engineer.

Encouraging students in science, technology, engineering & mathematics

In 1986, SAE International established the SAE Foundation to support science and technology education. One of the most pressing issues facing industry today is the decline of students enrolling in science and technology programs. This decline and its impact threaten the ability to meet future workforce demands. The SAE Foundation encourages and supports the development of skills related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

A World In Motion is a teacher-administered, industry volunteer-assisted program that brings science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to life in the classroom for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. Benchmarked to the national standards, AWIM incorporates the laws of physics, motion, flight and electronics into age-appropriate hands on activities that reinforce classroom STEM curriculum.

The SAE Collegiate Design Series provides an opportunity for college students to go beyond textbook theory and replicates the process of engineering design and manufacturing. In the CDS program, a company wants to sell a product for a specific market segment, for example a radio controlled airplane, a single seat off-road vehicle, or a single seat Formula style race car. Instead of doing all the design, manufacturing and testing in house, the customer chooses to contract out those processes to a supplier, and sends their requirements out for bid. Student teams act as the suppliers and design, build and test a prototype vehicle that they believe meets the customer's specifications. Each team then presents its prototype to the customer at the annual competitions and is judged on several criteria. The team with the highest points essentially wins the contract.

Each year, these design competitions host more than 4,500 students from 500 universities around the world. The SAE Collegiate Design Series competitions include the following:

Publications

SAE International has been publishing technical information since 1906. Industry magazines published monthly include: Automotive Engineering International, Aerospace Engineering and Manufacturing, Off Highway Engineering, Truck & Bus Engineering, SAE Vehicle Engineering, e-newsletters, Momentum magazine for student members, and various journals. SAE also produces the monthly Update newsletter for its members and publishes more than 100 books a year in print and electronic formats. Ranging from compilations on various technical subjects, to textbooks, to historical and enthusiast-oriented books, SAE’s titles cater to a variety of readers.

In April 2007, MIT canceled its subscription to SAE because of required Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology implemented on SAE web-based database of technical papers. SAE International removed the DRM restrictions for colleges, universities, and other academic institutions.