After restructuring the SAE ATL leadership team, SAE ATL’s board saw the opportunity to begin activity in Alabama by growing the Georgia team by 2 Alabama members, with more on the horizon.
On April 25, 2018 the SAE Alabama Section held its first event since joining with SAE Atlanta Section. The event was held at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and was a joint event with their student SAE chapter. Heather (Knoll) Woods of Honda Engineering North America and SAE Atlanta Board Vice Chair - Membership and Growth-AL, and Alan Hill of the Executive Director of Alabama Productivity Center at University of Alabama and SAE Atlanta Board Vice Chair - Business Development-AL facilitated the event. While enjoying some delicious BBQ, the students and local industry professionals had round table discussions and open conversations. They discussed benefits of SAE membership and how the Alabama section can partner with college chapters around the state. Another topic of discussion was engagement of engineers in Alabama, as well as how SAE benefits individuals once they begin their careers.
Industry representatives from Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Honda Race Team, Mercedes-Benz of Alabama and Borgers USA attended the meeting along with University of Alabama students, faculty and staff. Members of the Honda Race Team brought their Honda MDX and talked about their vehicle and racing success. This was a big hit with everyone in attendance. Students were able to see their efforts in their current curriculum being applied to a workplace environment, and discussed their passions for advancements in the automotive industry. Afterwards, there were tours of the University of Alabama’s College of Engineering automotive labs. The labs had state of the art equipment that gives these students the wonderful opportunity for hands on experience. Approximately fifty people attended the event and it provided a great opportunity to promote SAE as well as relaunch the Alabama section.
