Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2022 - 18

INNOVATION
at the
intersection
of disciplines
2022 SAE International
president Sri Srinath, Ph.D.
Caterpillar alum Sri Srinath, Ph.D., focuses on more collaboration and mentoring
in his new role as 2022 SAE International president.
by Patrick Ponticel, SAE Update editor
W
ith experiences ranging from doing hands-on engineering
to managing multi-billion-dollar businesses to serving
as a director in human services, " Sri Srinath is well
suited to lead SAE International over the next twelve
months amid life-transforming technological innovation in mobility
and related fields, " Raman Venkatesh, SAE's chief operating officer,
told SAE Media. " He is sure to be an inspiration for SAE members. "
Dr. Srinath, the 116th person to serve as SAE president, has distinguished
himself not only at Caterpillar, for which he worked almost 30
years, but also at SAE. He became a member in 1988 and has served on
the Board of Directors (2014-2016), Finance Committee (2016-2019),
Executive Nominating Committee, and COMVEC Executive Council.
After retiring from Caterpillar at the end of 2015, he joined the
management consulting firm CGN Global, where he currently serves
part time as managing director. Srinath is also principal board advisor
at an Indian electric vehicle manufacturer, Booma Innovative
Transport Solutions.
" I have an engineering background but an executive mindset, " he
told SAE Media in a December 2021 virtual interview.
And so it is with confidence - " and a trace of nervousness " - that
he starts his one-year term as SAE president. " I can't say enough
about how excited I am. It's a great responsibility and I want to make
sure I'm a good steward. I intend to leave the organization at least as
well as I find it, if not better, " he said.
Presidential focus areas
Among Srinath's goals is to help and support the continued expansion
of the composition and reach of SAE technical committees in
18 February 2022
" Electric technology, advanced
connectivity and autonomy
are being incorporated into
products in all three sectors.
This is driving stronger
collaboration. "
topical technologies such as autonomy, electric vehicles,
battery technology, vehicle-to-grid and vehicleto-vehicle
infrastructure, and many other areas.
More than ever, according to Srinath, various mobility
sectors share technology focus areas: " The aerospace
sector, the commercial vehicle sector and the
automobile sector kind of did their own things. They
realized they could learn from each other. Electric
technology, advanced connectivity and autonomy are
being incorporated into products in all three sectors.
So, this is driving stronger collaboration among these
sectors. Standards is a prime area for SAE to demonstrate
the integrated approach. "
" The third focus area is very dear to me, " Srinath said.
" I'm big on mentoring, especially for young people.
Specifically, I would like to see some kind of SAE mentoring
process where college kids who are already engaged
with SAE reach out to the high schoolers before they
make a decision about their career choices. Rather than
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
ALL IMAGES: DR. SRI SRINATH
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2022

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