Trine's SAE chapter earns affiliation with international organization

ANGOLA, Ind. (07/19/2023) — Trine University's chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has been reinstated as a collegiate chapter of SAE international, effective with the 2023-2024 academic year.

"This is huge for our group," said chapter secretary Dakota Carter, a mechanical engineering major from Fort Wayne, Indiana. "Becoming a part of SAE International lets our members apply for exclusive scholarships and stipends, and in the aerospace and automotive industries an SAE membership is a great resume builder."

"Something that many of us are also excited about is it helps pave the way for Trine students to possibly participate in events like Formula SAE, Formula SAE Electric or Baja SAE collegiate design competitions in the future."

To earn reinstatement, members began by reviewing and updating the chapter's constitution to conform to SAE International's requirements. They then worked to get chapter members signed up and paid as SAE International members.

Darryl Webber, Ph.D., chair of the Wade Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, wrote a letter of support for the effort, and the chapter put together a plan of potential events for the year to come.

"Once we got enough paid memberships, we submitted forms containing information about each of us members, forms with information about the engineering programs at Trine, our revised constitution, our plan for the year, and our support letter to the SAE International organization," Carter said. "After about a month, we received the confirmation letter."

A global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial vehicle industries, SAE exists to advance mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity.

For more information, email Thunder_Motorsports_Officers@mytrine.onmicrosoft.com or follow Trine_sae on Instagram or Trine University Society of Automotive Engineers on LinkedIn.