SAE Foundation Appoints Three New Board of Trustee Members from Ford, IHS Markit and Panasonic

Foundation Works to Encourage and Increase Student Achievement and Participation in STEM Programs


WARRENDALE, Pa. (February 11, 2021) – SAE Foundation announced today the appointment of three new members for the SAE Foundation Committee and Trustees. The new members will help oversee funds raised in support of SAE International’s award-winning A World In Motion® STEM education program, Collegiate Design Series™, awards and scholarships.

“SAE Foundation Trustees are deeply invested in sparking curiosity and interest in STEM by expanding STEM resources and education to students from Pre-K through college across the country,” said Lori Gatmaitan, SAE Foundation director. “We are proud to welcome our new members to the foundation. Each member brings a diverse portfolio of knowledge and experience that will help the SAE Foundation achieve its goal of reaching every student interested in STEM careers.”

The new SAE Foundation Trustees include:

  • Soraya Kim, CTO chief of staff and director of R&A Business Office at Ford Motor Company: Supporting the CTO, Kim leads R&A’s global business operations and oversees university research, strategic external partnerships including USCAR, Research Library & Information Systems, and STEM program. Prior to joining Ford, Kim was the Chief Innovation Officer at the American Center for Mobility, a leading state-of-the-art test facility for connected and automated vehicles, where she worked with the core team in standing up the facility, securing funding and partnering with global companies. Kim also worked for the Global Commercialization Group at the University of Texas in Austin where she evaluated and supported new technologies. She is an attorney by training with a background in mergers and acquisitions.

  • Andrew Poliak, chief technology officer, Panasonic Automotive Systems Company of America: As CTO, Poliak leads innovation initiatives including advanced engineering, advanced UX/UI/ID visionaries, product planning and leads business development with major automotive and mobility customers as a future mobility consult. Prior to Panasonic, Poliak led planning and business development for advanced driver assistance systems, reconfigurable clusters, telematics, connected services and infotainment at Blackberry QNX Software Systems. He holds multiple patents in automotive acoustic, multimedia and navigation technologies, and has been a part of successful technology launches in nearly 100 million vehicles. A tireless advocate of open collaboration, Poliak passionately champions in-house intellectual property strategic work to promote a safe autonomous future.

  • Michael Robinet, executive director, Automotive Advisory Services, IHS Markit: As executive director in the global automotive advisory practice, Robinet works with industry leaders, suppliers, OEMs and government entities throughout the global auto ecosystem, advising on the fields of supplier strategy/profitability, global production planning and forecasting, future product programs, analyzing sourcing and production strategies to help drive business decisions. Robinet has more than three decades of experience in automotive forecasting, strategic analysis and manufacturing finance.


For more information about the SAE Foundation, visit: http://www.saefoundation.org.  

About SAE Foundation
The SAE Foundation encourages and increases student achievement and participation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to build an inclusive, STEM-fluent workforce. Funds raised by the SAE Foundation support SAE International’s award-winning A World In Motion® (AWIM) program, Collegiate Design SeriesTM (CDS), awards and scholarships. SAE’s STEM education programs enable students to develop the 21st century skills needed to succeed in real-world work environments and connect classroom learning with real-life application. Overall, SAE’s STEM programs have reached more than six million students worldwide and engaged more than 30,000 STEM industry professionals as volunteers. SAE International is a global association engaging nearly 200,000 engineers, technical experts and volunteers to advance mobility knowledge and solutions for the benefit of humanity. www.saefoundation.org.
 

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