Highlights of the SAE International Lehigh Valley Section

The SAE International Lehigh Valley Professional Section has had an active year. SAE is the technical society serving engineers and technical professionals in mobility industries with over 130,000 members worldwide.

The Governing Board, led by Chairman Gordon Yerry, and Officers David Toler, Barbara Mizdail, Roy Thompson and George Wright, has conducted tours, section speaker meetings, and student chapter meetings. The SAE Lehigh Valley Section supports student chapters at Lehigh University, Lafayette College, and Penn State University – Berks. Also, our members were offered opportunities to attend joint meetings with other technical societies. These cooperative events afford members opportunities to expand their technical knowledge and interdisciplinary network.

In September, the Section arranged a tour of the NB Center for American Automotive Heritage located on Union Blvd in Allentown. This sprawling complex established by Italian businessman Nicola Bulgari incorporates several buildings housing his vast collection of mostly early to mid 20th century American vehicles. The cars are treated as historical objects, ready to drive, not static displays. Independent, but associated preservation / restoration and maintenance shops located adjacent to the NB Center were included in the tour. There are two miles of interlocking roads on the property for driving the vehicles. Opened in 2016 for groups to tour by appointment, this Center is a must see for automotive enthusiasts.

One of the major focuses of our SAE section is to support students in technical fields encouraging the sharing of knowledge by seasoned engineers with young professionals and students. Two student meetings were held this year, with the spring meeting being hosted by Penn State University – Berks, whose SAE students design and build Baja cars to compete in the annual SAE Baja (off-road) competitions. This section was started by then engineering professor Barbara Mizdail, one of our Section Governing Board Officers, in 2004. She was the first woman Faculty Advisor to take a Baja team to an international competition. That first PSU – Berks Baja team placed 12th out of 130 teams, the best showing thus far in our region. The fall student meeting was hosted by Lafayette College where their team designs and builds an electric vehicle to compete in SAE’s Formula E competition. Lafayette has previously fielded a team for SAE’s AeroDesign competition. Lehigh University will host the spring 2025 student meeting in early April. Lehigh currently has both a Baja team and a Formula team making the transition from gasoline engine to electric power. All teams have guest speakers and hold events throughout the school year. Our senior section provides financial support to the student teams.

In November, our SAE Section held a joint meeting with the Anthracite – Lehigh Valley Section of ASME (Mechanical Engineers). David Toler, one of our Section Governing Board Officers, gave a fascinating presentation on the history of reciprocating internal combustion engines in aircraft, as well as their limitations. Mr. Toler was on the design team at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft that developed the F-100 series of jet engines that powered the F-15 and F-16 Fighter Aircraft for the US Air Force. These aircraft are still in service today, and are also used by our allies worldwide. He later joined Curtiss-Wright Corporation who, at the time, still manufactured component parts and rebuilt / tested engines from the WW-II era. Engineering students and seasoned professionals alike enjoyed insights from this local expert in the field. In fact, Mr. Toler has been invited to repeat this presentation on February 20, 2025, during Engineers Week, at Penn State Lehigh Valley for faculty, students, staff and other guests.

Another exceptional event is planned for April 5, 2025, featuring land speed racer, Louise Ann Noeth. This open-to-the-public event will be held at the America On Wheels Museum in Allentown. Following her talk on land speed racing, there will be tours of the museum’s diverse collection of vehicles, many of which have historical ties to the Lehigh Valley, and the RB Collection across the street. The RB Collection consists of classic and vintage vehicles displayed in an art-gallery type showroom along with operations for complete restorations and servicing classic vehicles in honor of the automobiles and their owners. For information on the SAE Lehigh Valley Section events, contact our activities chair at [email protected] .