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Big Three Executives Endorse Formula SAE(R)

26 May 1998

Big Three Executives Endorse Formula SAE(R)

    WARRENDALE, Pa., May 26 -- Top executives from Chrysler
Corporation, Ford Motor Company and General Motors today gave their total
support to Formula SAE(R), a student design competition that begins tomorrow
and runs through Sunday, May 31, with more than 100 formula-style cars
competing at the Pontiac Silverdome.
    "Chrysler is proud to be part of the consortium sponsoring Formula
SAE(R)," said Bernard Robertson, Vice President-Engineering Technologies
and General Manager-Truck Operations of Chrysler.  "The future of the
automotive industry and Chrysler Corporation depends, in part, on young,
dynamic engineers who know how to work as part of a team and have a hands-on
knowledge of how to design, build and test vehicles.  The participants in
Formula SAE(R) meet all those qualifications."
    "We have nearly 100 engineers at Ford who are alumni of the Formula SAE(R)
program," said Neil Ressler, Vice President -- Advanced Vehicle Technology,
Ford Motor Company.  "They each received an invaluable hands-on experience at
FSAE -- in working as a team with deadlines and a limited budget."
    "This competition has changed the way that engineering education is
conducted in North America and elsewhere," said Neil Schilke, General Director
of Engineering and Product Planning for General Motors of Canada Limited.
"FSAE has provided the basis for experiential learning.  It is a project-based
education opportunity to work in teams that focus on systems issues.  Also,
this experience is gained in an international setting featuring student teams
from Canada, the U.S., Mexico, England, and Puerto Rico."
    Since 1994, Chrysler, Ford and GM have sponsored Formula SAE(R).  The
event has grown from 66 vehicles to more than 100 this year, with entries from
35 states, 5 Canadian provinces, Great Britain, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
    Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, won the 1997 Formula SAE(R).
Tomorrow, student teams will begin arriving in Pontiac for registration and
early technical inspection.  On Thursday, the teams will be judged on their
vehicle's design, cost and customer presentation.  Dynamic events begin on
Friday, with the climax of the competition on Saturday in an endurance event
covering 22 kilometers (13.66 miles).
    Formula SAE(R) is one of eight student design competitions sponsored by
the Society of Automotive Engineers to give engineering students real-world
experience in designing and building a vehicle as part of an automotive or
aerospace team.

    SAE is a non-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to
the advancement of mobility technology to better serve humanity.  More than
74,000 engineers and scientists who are SAE members develop technical
information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles including automobiles,
trucks and buses, off-highway equipment, aircraft, aerospace vehicles, marine,
rail, and transit systems.  SAE disseminates this information through its
meetings, books, technical papers, magazines, standards, reports, continuing
education programs, and electronic databases.