SAE Foundation Launches $20 Million Centennial Campaign

GM Pledges Leadership Gift of $5 Million

DETROIT, April 14 -- The SAE Foundation has launched a multi- million dollar centennial campaign entitled Inspiring A New Generation. The campaign, which coincides with the celebration of SAE International's 100th anniversary, will be conducted in two phases. The goal of Phase 1, which runs through the end of 2005, is to raise $20 million to expand the reach and impact of SAE's various educational programs.

Keynote speaker Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors and chairman of the SAE Foundation's centennial campaign, announced the campaign this evening at the 2005 SAE World Congress Banquet.

"On behalf of General Motors, I am pleased to announce our pledge of $5 million to the centennial campaign," Wagoner said. "These funds will go directly toward updating and expanding the SAE's A World In Motion(R) curriculum, as well as the Collegiate Design Series."

The A World In Motion(R) program is designed to keep children engaged in math and science through highly interactive learning experiences, while the Collegiate Design Series challenges engineering students to design, manufacture and test real vehicles in competition with their peers.

Students in elementary school through doctoral study benefit from the SAE Foundation's educational programs, which work in partnership with academia, government, industry, and SAE member companies worldwide. The centennial campaign is critical to ensure the expansion of these programs into more schools, in more areas, as well as to develop new curricula and enhance existing materials, Wagoner said.

"Unfortunately, we're seeing a huge drop in the number of science and engineering graduates in the U.S., and it threatens to undermine our industry's, and our nation's, ability to compete in the global economy," he noted. "It's up to us, as participants in this great industry, to take an active role in early education programs, and to help define the skills needed to compete in tomorrow's global environment. And the best way I know that we can do this is by supporting the SAE Foundation."

In addition to supporting educational programs, monies raised through the Inspiring a New Generation campaign will be used to establish scholarships to enable future engineers to pursue their educational dreams.

Campaign updates can be found at www.sae.org/campaign .