DETROIT — The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Foundation has launched a multi-million dollar centennial campaign entitled “Inspiring A New Generation.” The campaign, which coincides with the celebration of SAE International’s 100th anniversary, was established with the goal of raising $20 million to expand the reach and impact of SAE’s various educational programs. The program will be conducted in two phases — Phase 1 will run through the end of 2005.
Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors (GM) and chairman of the SAE Foundation’s centennial campaign, unveiled the campaign last night at the 2005 SAE World Congress Banquet. Wagoner was keynote speaker at the event. He announced that GM will pledge of $5 million to the centennial campaign. “These funds will go directly toward updating and expanding the SAE’s “A World In Motion” curriculum, as well as the Collegiate Design Series,” said Wagoner.
The “A World In Motion” program is designed to keep children engaged in math and science through highly interactive learning experiences, while the Collegiate Design Series challenges engineering students to design, manufacture and test real vehicles in competition with their peers.
The SAE Foundation works in partnership with academia, government, industry and SAE member companies to create educational programs for students in grade school through doctoral study. The centennial campaign is critical to ensure the expansion of these programs into more schools and more areas, as well as to develop new curricula and enhance existing materials, Wagoner said.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing a huge drop in the number of science and engineering graduates in the U.S., and it threatens to undermine our industry’s, and our nation’s, ability to compete in the global economy,” Wagoner noted. “It’s up to us, as participants in this great industry, to take an active role in early education programs, and to help define the skills needed to compete in tomorrow’s global environment. And the best way I know that we can do this is by supporting the SAE Foundation.”
In addition to supporting educational programs, funds raised through the “Inspiring a New Generation” campaign will be used to establish scholarships to enable future engineers to pursue their educational dreams.
For more information about the campaign, go to: www.sae.org/campaign.
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