Attendees From More Than 45 Nations "Connected" at the SAE International 2012 World Congress

WARRENDALE, Pa., May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SAE International wrapped up another successful World Congress last week at Cobo Hall in Detroit.

More than 9,000 people from 45-plus nations attended the three-day event. Nissan served as Host Company for the event; GE served as the Tier One Strategic Partner.

The theme of the SAE 2012 World Congress was "Get Connected." The theme represents the new and diverse connections that will drive significant advancements in the auto industry of tomorrow.

"This year saw a continued revitalization and renewed relevance of the SAE World Congress," Patti Kreh, manager, engineering meetings, SAE International, said. "The networking opportunities were outstanding. And, the sharing of technical information and the scope of innovative technology displayed showed the true nature of the tremendous work being done in the automotive engineering industry."

The SAE 2012 World Congress, by the numbers, included:

• More than 9,000 attendees, of whom 8 percent were from Asia and 7 percent were from Europe;
• 22 OEMs represented;
• 150 exhibiting companies;
• 40 sponsoring organizations; and
• 1,169 technical papers.

For the third year, the World Congress had an "Innovators Only" exhibition. There were 150 companies on the show floor, an increase of more than 20 percent from 2010.

The technical papers again included the "Chat with the Experts" networking sessions, which have been well received by attendees.

The 2012 Ride-n-Drive featured 24 different vehicles, including the Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi i, Chevrolet Volt, Ford Focus Electric and the Honda Clarity. Over the three-day World Congress, more than 1,500 attendees participated in the Ride-n-Drive.

Toshiyuki Shiga, Chief Operating Officer, Nissan Motor, Ltd, delivered the keynote address at the sold out World Congress Annual Banquet, which hosted more than 850 people. Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman &, CEO, General Electric; Anthony Levandowski, Google's Self-Driving Car Project; and David Strickland, Administrator, NHTSA delivered keynote addresses during the week.

Other highlights of the SAE 2012 World Congress included:

• More than 800 elementary students participated in SAE International's A World In Motion® (AWIM) programs, which included the JetToy and the new Motorized Toy Car competitions.
• Over 200 advanced technical sessions covering every aspect of automotive technology.
• The annual career fair attracted 60 companies seeking to fill more than 350 technical positions in the automotive industry.

SAE International is a global association of more than 133,000 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. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.

- www.sae.org -

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

SOURCE SAE International