The Society of Automotive Engineers is a professional
society with roughly 71,000 members, most of whom are
technical professionals in fields related to motion on
land, sea, air, or space and about 12,000 of whom are
student members. In addition to sponsoring meetings and
publications, and developing industry standards, certain
of which are well known (e.g. the standards for motor
oil, hence designations like SAE-30), the SAE is engaged
in educational activities at all levels. The World in
Motion and World in Motion II programs are the formal
educational programs of the society directed at the
pre-high-school grades.
The SAE was founded in 1905 by several members in the
newly emerging automotive industry including Henry Ford.
With the development of airplanes, the SAE's focus
expanded to include airborne as well as land vehicles, so
that others of its early members included the Wright
brothers. The involvement with sea and space came later.
The SAE has 55 local sections in North America through
which it carries on many of its outreach activities. It
is the local sections that often act as brokers in
forming partnerships among teachers, school
administrators, and businesses or other organizations,
and in promoting the involvement of its members with A
World in Motion or A World in Motion II in the schools.
The section officers are trained by SAE staff to enable
them to promote the programs, distribute the materials,
and guide other engineers through the volunteer process.
The SAE has also created the SAE Foundation to which
industries and individuals contribute and which supports
activities such as these programs.
