Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1900s | |
| 1904 | Edward Tracy Birdsall, charter member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, invites others to the Automobile Club of America at 753 5th Ave., New York, NY to organize a society of engineers concerned with all aspects of automobiles. Those invited included Horace Swetland, publisher of the trade journal The Automobile, and seven others. Henry Ford, though invited, did not attend. |
| 1905 | 30 founding members of the society of automobile engineers meet in New York to elect officers. They were:
SAE Council:
|
| 1906 | Membership listed at 52; 32 attend meeting from nine different states. Volume 1, no. 0, of SAE Transactions printed with three papers. |
| 1907 | Membership listed at 100. |
| 1908 | Membership listed at 150. |
| 1909 | Society is incorporated, debut of original SAE logo. Membership approaches 400. |
| 1911 | SAE is formally incorporated in New York. The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers effectively dissolves following court ruling. SAE takes over ALAM's technical section, beginning SAE's standardization program. SAE opens associate membership to anyone "in a responsible commercial or financial capacity." The SAE Bulletin is founded. |
| 1912 | SAE publishes its first standard. ALAM officially dissolves. |
| 1913 | Membership exceeds 1700. |
| 1914 | Initial publication of SAE's annual compilation of standards in the SAE Data Book. |
| 1915 | SAE moves headquarters to the Engineering Societies Building. SAE standardization efforts reduces the different types of lock washers used in vehicles by 90% (originally 300), reduced 1600 sizes of seamless steel tubing to 221. First student branch is formed at Cornell University. |
| 1916 | SAE opens a Detroit office. Admits members of the American Society of Aeronautical Engineers, the Society of Tractor Engineers, National Association of Engine and Boat Manufacturers, the National Gas Engine Association, and the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. The National Gas Engine Association and the National Association of Engine and Boat Manufacturers merge their standards work with SAE. SAE publishes first aeronautical standard. |
| 1917 | Elmer Sperry coins the word automotive; SAE changes acronym to Society of Automotive Engineers in February. National Automobile Chamber of Commerce begins to support standards work. Found Washington DC Office in the Munsey Trust Building. Cooperated with the Quartermaster Corps to produce the liberty truck and with the U.S. Navy department and the Signal Corps to produce the Liberty airplane engine, the Liberty L-12. SAE's Journal is founded. |
| 1918 | Orville Wright writes to Charles Witteman of the Witteman – Lewis Aircraft Company. It begins: "My dear Mr. Witteman: as your name does not appear on the roster of the Society of automotive engineers, I suspect the advantages of membership have not been presented to you. The work covered by the S.A.E. is of such value that everybody identified with the industry should take out membership." |
| 1919 | Membership exceeds 4300. |
| 1920s | |
| 1920 | Membership reaches 5000, including SAE's first woman member Nellie M. Scott, treasurer of the Bantam Ball Bearing company of Bantam, Connecticut. |
| 1921 | SAE standards number 224. Automotive Industries estimates SAE standards save $750 million, or 15% of the retail value of all automobiles sold. |
| 1922 | Membership exceeds 5000. |
| 1926 | Membership exceeds 6000. |
| 1927 | The first SAE award is created – the Wright Brothers medal – for the best paper on the topic of aircraft. |
| 1930 | 25th Anniversary. Membership exceeds 7000. |
| 1933 | Fuels and Lubricants Meetings Committee is formed. |
| 1935 | Tractor and Industrial Power Equipment Meetings Committee is formed. |
| 1936 | SAE's first National Aircraft Production Meeting is held. |
| 1939 | The SAE War Engineering Board is established to evaluate problems defined by the military and to assign committees of specialists to ascertain prompt solutions. |
| 1940s | |
| 1940 | Membership reaches 5855. |
| 1942 | The War Activity Council is formed to coordinate efforts for the Allied forces. |
| 1943 | The War Activity Office is established in Detroit. |
| 1944 | The Special Publication Department is formed. |
| 1945 | Membership exceeds 12,000. |
| 1946 | The Technical Board is formed, creating standards for design, manufacturing, testing, quality control, and procurement. |
| 1947 | Formal Engineering Meetings structure established. The Engineering Materials Meetings Committee is formed. |
| 1958 | The Sections Board is formed to guide SAE's local sections and keep the SAE board of directors informed. |
| 1960s | |
| 1961 | SAE Aerospace standards number 1000. |
| 1966 | SAE publications gain international coverage. |
| 1967 | The phrase "land, sea, air, and space" is added to the SAE logo. |
| 1973 | SAE launches first design competition for college students called the Recreational-Ecological Vehicle contest. |
| 1974 | SAE moves headquarters to a new location on Thorn Hill in Warrendale, PA, 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA. Warrendale is christened SAE World Headquarters. |
| 1976 | SAE officially launches its Collegiate Design Series. |
| 1977 | The SAE Fellow award is established to recognize achievements in technology and engineering. |
| 1978 | The SAE Women Engineers Committee is formed. |
| 1980s | |
| 1981 | The collegiate design competition Formula SAE begins. The first volume of Aerospace Engineering Magazine is published. |
| 1983 | SAE begins its Professional Development Program to educate and certify mobility engineers. |
| 1986 | SAE creates the SAE Foundation to fund and promote education in math and science. |
| 1990 | SAE foundation launches A World in Motion, "with the specific aim of bringing a new style of pedagogy to physical sciences in grades four, five, and six." SAE establishes the Performance Review Institute, a nonprofit affiliate, to develop performance standards and certify systems accordingly. SAE forms its first international affiliation with SAE Brazil |
| 2000s | |
| 2002 | SAE recognizes its second organizational affiliate, SAE India. |
| 2004 | The Institute of Vehicle Engineers, UK, merges with the United Kingdom's Midlands SAE Section to form SAE UK. SAE membership reaches 84,000. |
| 2005 | SAE Aerospace standards number 6200. SAE celebrates its 100 year anniversary with SAE 100. |
| 2010 | SAE membership reaches 120,000. |
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