Gregory E. Saunders, Director of the Defense Standardization Program Office, Honored with SAE International Medal of Honor
Gregory E. Saunders, Director of the Defense Standardization Program Office, Honored with SAE International Medal of Honor
Gregory E. Saunders, Director of the Defense Standardization Program Office, is the recipient of the 2018 SAE International Medal of Honor. Mr. Saunders received his medal at the annual Awards Ceremony during the SAE International WCX World Congress Experience, recently held Detroit.
WARRENDALE, Pa., May 14, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Gregory E. Saunders, Director of the Defense Standardization Program Office, is the recipient of the 2018 SAE International Medal of Honor. Mr. Saunders received his medal at the annual Awards Ceremony during the SAE International WCX World Congress Experience, recently held Detroit.
The Medal of Honor, established in 1986, is presented annually and is SAE International's most prestigious award. The award recognizes an SAE International member for his or her unique and significant contributions to SAE International and is funded through the SAE Foundation.
SAE International's Board of Directors approved Mr. Saunders nomination, recognizing and honoring him for a career dedicated to advancing engineering standards both in the Department of Defense and in the private sector. During nearly 25 years of participation with SAE, Saunders worked to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the SAE standards development system. During that time, he chaired both the Aerospace Council and the Technical Standards Board responsible for overseeing development and maintenance of more than 10,000 engineering standards; and was later elected to the Board of Directors and to the position of Aerospace Vice President. He has also been appointed to the grade of Fellow within SAE.
In acceptance remarks, Mr. Saunders noted that in the business of standards, "...making lasting change is rarely about inspiration and revolution - rather it is about establishing relationships, working long hours, months, even years toward evolutionary changes which, when considered in the long run, turn out to be revolutionary after all." In addition to those incremental changes, he is credited with helping to drive the organization to a more international stance thus improving their status as a global standards setter.
Mr. Saunders lives in Alexandria, Va, and works for the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he is responsible for policies and procedures governing development and use of Military Specifications and Standards, Qualified Products and Manufacturers Database and DoD's use of voluntary consensus standards.
In addition to his work with SAE, Mr. Saunders is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASTM International, served on the Board of ANSI, and on governance committees at IEEE, ASME, and other standards developers.
Unlike other SAE awards that honor technical achievements or outstanding accomplishments in mobility engineering, the Medal of Honor recognizes an individual's contributions to the overall SAE organization. Mr. Saunders has been such an integral part of the SAE leadership infrastructure for the aerospace industry for over two decades and he truly embodies the spirit of SAE's Vision and Mission.
SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting over 127,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our charitable arm, the SAE Foundation, which helps fund programs like A World in Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series(TM).
SOURCE SAE International
