SAE 2007 Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress Lauded for Global Focus

WARRENDALE, Pa., Nov. 9, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Global market concerns are heard in the news almost daily, yet the 2007 SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress & Exhibition, with executive leadership provided by John Deere, is in the books as an industry success.

"The 2007 Commercial Vehicle Congress exceeded even the high goals we set for it. More exhibitors and outstanding sessions combined to attract more than 3,000 attendees from 25 nations," said Mark Pflederer, Vice President, Commercial Vehicle for SAE International. Pflederer concludes his term this year, and SAE's next Commercial Vehicle Vice President, Ric Kleine, Vice President, Off-Highway Business, Cummins Inc., was introduced at the event.

Networking and knowledge-sharing were the highlights of the event for the engineers, suppliers and manufacturers who attended. In the spirit of globalization, more than 50 percent of the technical papers presented were from outside the United States. The conference featured technical sessions and presentations, panel discussions, a global CEO panel, and an exhibit showcasing the world's premiere companies in the commercial-vehicle industry.

The annual banquet featured a keynote address by Alan Taub of GM. Several awards were also presented at the banquet, including the AEM Outstanding Young Engineer Award, the SAE Sid Olsen Engineering Manager Award, and the SAE Commercial Vehicle Sector Lifetime Achievement Award.

The outstanding work of reporters bringing issues in the commercial-vehicle industry to the general public also was honored for the first time. The inaugural SAE Commercial Vehicle Excellence in Media Award was won by Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press.

Herb Kaufman, Director of Commercial Vehicle Business and Chief Technology Officer for SAE International, believes that the conference now has become a must-attend event for technology professionals in the on- and off-highway industries. "The SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress is only four years old, but even if you judge solely from the high-level networking, the conference really has captured its own part of the international commercial vehicle industry. The BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - were well-represented, and the nations with the highest representation outside the U.S. included Germany, Korea, Italy and Poland. The sessions and exhibits truly offered attendees a global view of the latest and most comprehensive technical information."

The 2008 SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress & Exhibition, with executive leadership from Cummins Inc., is set for Oct. 7-9 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.