January 2009 UpdateNews for the Members of SAE International 17th SAE Brasil International Congress and Exhibition sets new records The 17th SAE Brasil International Congress sectors including railroads and motorcycles and Exhibition held October 7-9 in São are represented in sessions, technical papers, Paulo, Brazil, established new records with attendance, and in the exhibition. 9370 attendees and 90 exhibitors. This year’s Flávia Piovacari, Quality Senior Manager event recorded a 15% increase over last at Visteon Automotive Systems, served as year in the number of attendees and a 13% the 2008 Congress President. Piovacari will increase in the number of exhibitors. become a Director on the SAE Brasil Board The Brazilian Minister of Development/ commencing with the 2009 term. The cur- Industry/Commerce, Miguel Jorge, was an rent 2007-08 SAE Brasil President is Vilmar honored guest at the event and participated Fistarol. Fistarol is President of Teksid do in the October 7 opening ceremonies along Brasil Ltda., a primary supplier to Fiat. with James E. Smith, SAE International Besaliel Botelho, Executive Vice President at 2009 President. Robert Bosch Ltda., will serve as the 2009-10 A total of 120 technical papers were SAE Brasil President and is currently serving presented at the Congress and will also be as the organization’s Vice President. added to the SAE Global Mobility Database. Smith got an early taste of his upcoming These 120 papers were selected from a total presidential duties by attending this year’s of 408 papers received from local and inter- Congress and participating in many event national authors. As an international event, activities including serving as a panelist on most of the SAE Brasil Congress technical the Education Activities Panel. papers are written in English. Participating in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 17th SAE Brasil International Congress The 18th SAE Brasil International Congress and Exhibition were (from left to right) 2007-08 SAE Brasil President Vilmar Fistarol; Miguel The SAE Brasil International Congress and Exhibition will be held October 6-8, Jorge, Brazilian Minister of Development/Industry/Commerce; Paulo Butori, President of incorporates the major mobility engineering the SINDIPEÇAS; Reginaldo Arcuri, President of the Brazilian Agency for the Industrial 2009. sectors—automotive, aerospace, and com- Development; 2009 SAE President James E. Smith; and Flávia Piovacari, President of SAE Brasil Established in 1992, SAE Brasil has a cur- mercial vehicle—in each year’s event. These 2008 Congress. rent membership of 4954. SAE International/AEM sign standards development agreement Calendar change brings SAE International and the Association of Equipment Manu- facturers (AEM) signed a memorandum of understanding changes to Update (MOU) to further the development of standards for the At the beginning of the new year—starting with the off-highway industry. The agreement was signed during February issue—Update will be exclusively published SAE International’s 2008 Commercial Vehicle Engineering online in an exciting new form with full-color images, Congress and Exhibition, held in Rosemont, IL. additional career-development information, and a more The agreement is expected to help off-highway companies visually appealing design. While at the same time offer- reduce costs through pooling of resources and bringing ing both graphic and content enhancements, the digital greater stability to the U.S. standards process by establishing format will help SAE International work toward its goal a more permanent and predictable funding model. of becoming more environmentally friendly. Under the terms of the MOU, AEM will provide sustain- The digital format will also allow for circulation to be able funding resources on behalf of the off-road industry to expanded beyond the current domestic SAE members SAE International’s administration and support services for to international and student members and open up the standards development. possibility of including audio/video and direct links to “This is an important agreement because it provides an other SAE Web content. equitable means for companies to be engaged in the stan- To ensure that members continue receiving future dard development process, something that we all strive for Darrin Drollinger (left) of the Association of Equipment issues, they are encouraged to make sure their e-mail these days, and it creates a model that provides long-term Manufacturers and Jack Pokrzywa (right), Director, Ground addresses are up to date by logging into MySAE—my. benefits,” Jack Pokrzywa, Director, Ground Vehicle Stan- Vehicle Standards, SAE International, sign a memorandum of sae.org—and clicking the “Update Addresses” link or dards, SAE International, said. “We are pleased to partner understanding on behalf of their organizations. by calling 877-606-7323 (in the U.S. and Canada) or with AEM on this project.” 724-776-4970. SAE International is a global association of 115,000 Please stay tuned for more information about this engineers and related technical experts in the automotive, exciting new endeavor. aerospace, and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE Interna- tional’s core competencies are life-long learning and stan- dards development. SAE International’s charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World in Motion and the Collegiate Design Series. Update Editorial Message from the President Presidency to be a ‘learning’ A year of change experience for Smith The term of office for the SAE President is one year, starting tion management. This at the January Board of Directors Meeting. We are rapidly effort may involve changes As a recently inducted Fellow and member of the SAE approaching the January 2009 Board meeting and the end in how SAE International International Board of Directors (2005-08), Engineering of my term. I believe that it has been a very interesting and organizes and distributes Meetings Board (2002-07), and Technical Standards Board productive year for SAE International. the technical information (2006-09), West Virginia University (WVU) professor James Several events occurred in 2008 that have resulted in that our members provide E. Smith is somebody that is already on many SAE mem- significant changes in the direction and operation of SAE to us. One area that we have bers’ radar. In 2009, he will be even more so as he becomes International. In fact, I have called this the year of transition. made significant progress just the fourth SAE President to come from academia. The 2007 Board of Directors initiated a new officer nomina- this year is in the creation of As an educator with more than 24 years of experience, tion process that was approved by the membership at the a new journal system that Smith has “seen what can happen when we instill a thirst 2008 World Congress. This nomination process was designed is recognized by Science for knowledge and self-improvement,” and that expe- to ensure that the Board has the appropriate structure and Citation Index. In fact, we rience will no doubt come in handy when it comes to makeup to accomplish the prevailing strategic plan. This will be announcing the first strengthening SAE’s lifelong learning opportunities. “This, process was used for the first time in 2008 to nominate a very of these journals within coupled with the notion that we survive and flourish as a strong slate of candidates for President and Directors, and is the next few weeks. This result of innovation, will be the theme of my presidency,” in the process of developing an equally strong 2009 slate of is a new business for SAE Smith said. candidates for President, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, and International that is designed to recognize the contributions The value Smith brings to the presidency, however, will Directors. of our academic members, and also fill voids in the mobil- not come exclusively as an educator. Through the West Major changes in key staff positions also occurred in ity industry where peer-reviewed journals are not currently Virginia University Center for Industrial Research Ap- 2008, with the retirement of Ray Morris from his position of available. plications (CIRA), which he helped form in 1990, Smith Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. We My year as president has gone by so quickly that I some- has been the principal or co-principal investigator for 92 were very fortunate this year in our efforts to fill this critical times feel that I have not recognized and thanked the people research contracts, exceeding $18 million in funding, for staff position. Dr. David L. Schutt joined SAE International that I have encountered and that have contributed to my ex- various projects funded by federal agencies and interna- in November of 2007. Schutt officially took over for Morris perience. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to thank tional and domestic companies. following his retirement in April of 2008. Schutt came to SAE all of the loyal SAE International members that I have met He has also been granted 26 U.S. patents, with an ad- International from the American Chemical Society (ACS), this year and who have helped to make my year as President ditional 28 pending, for mechanical, medical, and energy where he served in several key high-level staff positions. a very fulfilling experience. related devices, including non-invasive medical diagnostic One of his responsibilities at ACS was strategic planning. I welcome all constructive comments and input. Please feel equipment, high-lift helicopters, and color machine vision We have taken advantage of his experience by initiating a free to e-mail [email protected]. applications. new strategic planning process. The new process has been His experiences at WVU have not limited him to any designed to fully engage all of the operating boards, commit- one of SAE’s three sectors—aerospace, automotive, or tees, and business sectors of SAE.