Victor Saucedo Wins 2011 SAE International Leadership Award in Engineering

WARRENDALE, Pa., Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Victor Everardo Saucedo, (retired) Senior Manager, F-117 Program, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, has won the 2011 SAE International Aerospace Engineering Leadership Award. Saucedo was presented the award during the November SAE International Technical Standards Board meeting.

The award honors an individual at the corporate official level for outstanding contributions to the field of aerospace engineering through his/her leadership skills. It recognizes an individual who has applied their leadership skills in aerospace engineering to make contributions leading to great positive impact on the aerospace community.

In a distinguished career that spans more than 50 years in the aerospace defense industry, Saucedo has become a technical expert, an industry leader, a role model and mentor.  He has received many awards for his technical achievements and effective leadership including the Hispanic Engineer National Lifetime Achievement Award and the first ever Secretary of Defense Performance Based Logistics (PBL) Award. He began his career as an engineering draftsman and progressed to a position in senior management with responsibility for leadership of the Lockheed Martin F-117 Air Vehicle Integrated Product Team (IPT), which consisted of five IPTs - Airframe, Functional Sub-systems, Electrical Sub-systems, Low Observables, and Propulsion.  He managed 65 employees and a $55 million budget.  Saucedo's leadership in the F-117 program was central to Lockheed Martins' ability to meet requirements of the U.S. Air Force Total System Support Partnership (TSSP) contract.  

Under Saucedo's leadership, Lockheed Martin consistently exceeded the TSSP performance goals and received the maximum incentive fee available. The bottom-line result is effective fleet sustainment of the F-117 stealth fighter, a proven deterrent in the War on Terror. He is a recognized expert in stealth technology and is credited with contributions that extended the life of the F-117, the world's first operational stealth aircraft.  F-117s led the way in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraq Freedom, flying against heavily defended targets.  In keeping the F-117 operational, he led his teams in a successful initiative that saved the Air Force over $20 million in engine overhaul costs and in the development, test, and introduction of a field capability for repair of long-life, low observable F-117 coatings.

Saucedo earned the membership of SAE Fellow in 2010. He served as Chairman of the SAE International Electrical and Electronics Division of the Aerospace Council for 20 years; during that time, his Division members maintained and improved upon hundreds of SAE International air vehicle standards for electrical/electronic systems, including lightning and electromagnetic interference protection.  Also, his Division successfully converted nearly all Naval Air Systems Command standards for electrical and electronic system components and materials into SAE International documents. Saucedo worked with SAE International committees, government agencies, the supplier community, and major aircraft manufactures to support development and changes to applicable aircraft wiring specifications, including the complete re-write of MIL-W-5088 Aircraft Wiring Specification.  

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. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.

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SOURCE SAE International