2018 Annual Report

David Schutt, Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of SAE International®. He oversees the global management and operations of the +$160M SAE Group, consisting of SAE International (SAE), Performance Review Institute^SM (PRI), SAE Industry Technologies Consortia® (SAE ITC) and several subsidiaries and joint ventures.

SAE International is a not-for-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to advancing mobility technology and design engineering to better serve humanity. Its more than 128,000 members, including engineers, business executives, educators, and students from more than 100 countries, develop technical standards, publish authoritative literature, and share information and exchange ideas for advancing the engineering of mobility systems. SAE is the world's resource for designing, building, maintaining, and operating self-propelled vehicles for use on land or sea, in air or space.

Performance Review Institute is a trade association that advances the interests of industry through development of performance standards and administration of quality assurance, accreditation, and certification programs, as well as related activities for the benefit of industry, government, and the public. It provides a full range of programs and services designed to improve manufacturing process and product quality by adding value, reducing total cost, and promoting collaboration between global stakeholders in the mobility and other interested industries.

SAE Industry Technologies Consortia (SAE ITC) is a trade association with a mission to build industry infrastructure tailored to the respective technology, market and industry member groups while satisfying time horizons and providing the responsible resources to enable achievement of industry objectives. Within SAE ITC, Defense Automotive Technologies Consortium™ (DATC), administers as an Other Transaction Authority (OTA), a US Government mechanism to engage non-traditional defense contractors to integrate innovative automotive technologies quickly and efficiently into military ground vehicles, ultimately resulting in speed of adoption of commercial technologies and improved defense capabilities.

Dr. Schutt serves on a variety of not-for-profit and for-profits boards, national commissions, and local business organizations.  Prior to joining SAE International in 2007, Schutt worked at the American Chemical Society (ACS) in several executive management positions.

Dr. Schutt holds a Doctorate in Chemistry and Chemical Physics from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College. He also earned an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University.

Gregory Bradley, Esquire, is the Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Secretary of SAE International. In this role, Greg is responsible for the organization’s legal, intellectual property, risk management and corporate governance affairs. Greg has over 30 years of experience in private and corporate practice and, prior to joining SAE International, was Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for a medical device company in Pittsburgh and General Counsel for one of its divisions. Greg was also in private practice with intellectual property and general practice law firms in Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Greg is a founding member of the Q. Todd Dickinson (Pittsburgh) Intellectual Property Chapter of the American Inns of Court and a Past President of the Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association (PIPLA). He is also a member of the Association General Counsel Forum, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), and the Advisory Committee for the Study of the Local Patent Rules for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Greg holds Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) and Juris Doctor (JD) degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a registered patent attorney and is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia.

Dana Pless is SAE International's Chief Financial officer and is responsible for the organization's overall financial strategies and policies, accounting practices, and relationships with lending institutions and the financial community. He also provides oversight to SAE's pre-professional programs, the SAE Foundation, and centralized corporate administrative functions within the SAE Group. He joined SAE International in 1998. Pless has over thirty years of management experience in finance and administration and has worked in association management since 1994. He previously worked at a mining and energy company in several financial positions including internal audit, cost accounting, and finance systems. He began his professional career as an auditor with one of the major public accounting firms. Pless is a Past-President of the Pittsburgh Society of Association Executives (PSAE) and has served on the board of the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE). He is also a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Pless holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from Indiana University School of Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Association Executive.

Mark Chung is the Chief Marketing Officer of SAE International. In his role, Mark leads SAE's brand and market strategies to enhance and build on the organization's global profile as the unparalleled resource in the mobility space. Mark is a thought leader and a seasoned marketing executive. He brings two decades of international marketing experience to SAE International as well as a deep knowledge of the mobility industry through his work at Ford, Yokohama Tire, Cummins, and Cooper Tire and Rubber Company. Most recently Mark served as Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Cooper Tire and prior to that as Director, Global Marketing at Cummins. Mark is motivated by the challenges of reshaping SAE International's traditional marketing methods to customer- and market-centric solutions. Mark has significant experience at creating cross-departmental processes that embed Voice of Customer [VoC] strategies throughout all functional areas and benchmarking performance against key operational targets and goals. His expertise spans planning and executing marketing in both B2C and B2B settings. His career includes a strong record of success and progression in collaborating and driving revenue and profit growth of both the firm and its customers. Mark holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a M.B.A. from Indiana University. He's also a board member for Foundations Preschool in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which provides early childhood education for the working poor and a wish grantor for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Frank Menchaca is the Chief Growth Officer of SAE International. In this role, Frank is responsible for its commercial activities including information products, professional development, events, marketing, content management and its operations in Europe and China. He brings several decades of experience to this effort, most recently with Cengage Learning, where he created digital products to match the workflows of students, instructors and professionals in libraries, businesses, and schools worldwide. Among the imprints he has run are Charles Scribner’s Sons Reference, Gale, Macmillan Reference USA, National Geographic Learning, Chilton's, and Professional Trade Reference.

Among Frank's areas of focus have been agile product development, user experience research and persona mapping, and proprietary content development. He has specialized in developing products for global markets, including Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China, and the Gulf states. Frank has also developed and managed strategic partnerships with the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, Harvard University Law School, The British Library, and many others.

A published author, Frank's writings include journal articles in information science. Among his creative outputs are visual art, music production, poetry, and essays. He holds a B.A. in Spanish and English Language and Literature from New York University, Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude, and an M.A. with Honors from Yale University in English Literature. He speaks and writes in Spanish.

Frank and his wife Deirdre have three sons, Gabriel, William, and Aidan.

Rich Wilkie is the Chief Information Officer of SAE International. In this role, he is responsible for supporting the Organization's strategic goals through technology products, applications, and infrastructure.

Prior to joining SAE International in 2018, Rich held Executive IT Management roles at several Fortune 500 companies including Hewlett-Packard, Nortel Networks, ECI Telecom, Apollo Education Group, and most recently with Opus Global. In these roles, he was responsible for building and supporting numerous enterprises, carrier and consumer products for the financial services, telecom, education, and medical industries.

Rich earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.

Melinda Rombold is the Chief Human Resource Officer of SAE International. In this role, Melinda is responsible for leading all strategic aspects of the Human Resource function for the organization. Melinda and the HR team focus on advancing cultural/organizational change, enabling SAE to achieve its growth objectives and to attract and retain talent. She partners with leadership at all levels for change management and employee engagement initiatives and serves as the steward for the organization’s ethical and social conscience.

Melinda brings 25 years of Human Resource leadership. Over her career, she has worked for the PTC Group, Ansaldo STS, RedZone Robotics, Del Monte Foods and Tuscarora Inc. where she has held progressive leadership positions in these domestic and global companies within technology, engineering, consumer-packaged goods, and manufacturing.

Melinda’s philosophy to Human Resources is to partner with leadership to ensure the critical balance of organizational success and employee initiatives. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Robert Morris University and a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management from St. Francis School University.