2011 SAE Foundation Banquet Honors Automotive Leaders, Celebrates $1.6 Million in Combined Contributions in 2010

WARRENDALE, Pa., May 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The SAE Foundation held its annual banquet Thursday, May 12, at The Fillmore Detroit. The event recognized and celebrated today's and tomorrow's automotive industry leaders.

Proceeds from the banquet support the interactive science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educational programs of the SAE Foundation. The 2011 SAE Foundation Banquet raised nearly $300,000 to support STEM programs.

In addition, the SAE Foundation celebrated $1.6 million in combined contributions to promote the SAE Foundation's STEM education programs over the past year. In Detroit, it's estimated that 5,000 students will benefit from the SAE Foundation's STEM programs in 2011, up from 4,056 in 2009.

Industry Leadership Awards were presented to John Krafcik, president and chief executive officer of Hyundai Motor America; and Peter Marks, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Robert Bosch LLC.

Krafcik announced during the banquet that Hyundai would donate the all-new Hyundai Genesis new 5.0-liter V-8 with 429 horsepower (Genesis R-Spec) to the SAE Foundation in order to help benefit science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education programs. In addition, he said that supporters of STEM education can address the challenge of providing the right skill set for today's children by working together through organizations like the SAE Foundation; insisting through our political system that our federal, state, and local governments do more to embrace effective STEM education; and aligning the vast resources of the automotive industry.

Marks announced that Bosch will contribute $125,000 to the SAE Foundation in equal installments over the next five years, to support two purposes: First, to show continued appreciation and commitment to an industry that they (Bosch) have been proud to be part of for the past 125 years; and second, to pledge ongoing support for the important work of the SAE Foundation.

Also during the event, two were honored with the Young Industry Leadership Award:

• Stacy Martin, senior manufacturing engineer, General Motors; and
• Jennifer C. Wheeler, senior project engineer, AVL Powertrain Engineering, Inc.

FEV sponsors the Young Industry Leadership Award (YILA). Established in 2006 and formerly known as the Young Manufacturing Leadership Award, the YILA promotes careers in the engineering community by recognizing young men and women, ages 35 and under, who have significant accomplishments and who show potential for significant leadership growth in industry.

The SAE Foundation also announced that Arnold (Arne) and Stephanie (Steffi) Siegel are winners of the first-ever Gordon Millar Award. The award, which is funded by AVL, is given in special recognition of an individual or organization that best demonstrates continuous philanthropic support of the SAE Foundation Mission to encourage and increase student participation and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The SAE Foundation is the charitable arm of SAE International that strives to encourage and increase student participation and achievement in science, technology, engineering and math through many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series. SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development.

- www.sae.org -

Contact: Shawn Andreassi of SAE International, 1-724-772-8522 or [email protected]

SOURCE SAE International