SAE International is a global professional association and standards organization based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, United States.

Aside from its standardization efforts, SAE International also devotes resources to projects and programs in STEM education, professional certification, and collegiate design competitions.

Engineers in the automobile business expressed a desire to have "free exchange of ideas" to expand their technical knowledge base.

Two magazine publishers, Peter Heldt of The Horseless Age, and Horace Swetland of The Automobile, were advocates of the concepts for SAE.

SAE member Elmer Sperry created the term "automotive" from Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion) origins to represent any form of self-powered vehicle.

[8][25] SAE documents do not carry any legal force, but are in some cases referenced by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Transport Canada.

Since then, the standard has been the more conservative SAE net power, which takes into account engine accessory, emissions, and exhaust drags, but not transmission losses.

SAE also produces the monthly Update newsletter for its members and publishes more than 100 books a year in print and electronic formats.

Ranging from compilations on various technical subjects, to textbooks, to historical and enthusiast-oriented books, SAE's titles cater to a variety of readers.

[37] A World In Motion is a teacher-administered, industry volunteer-assisted program that brings science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to life in the classroom for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12.

[38] Benchmarked to the national standards, AWIM incorporates the laws of physics, motion, flight and electronics into age-appropriate hands on activities that reinforce classroom STEM curriculum.

[42] Instead of doing all the design, manufacturing and testing in house, the customer chooses to contract out those processes to a supplier, and sends their requirements out for bid.

Student teams act as the suppliers and design, build and test a prototype vehicle that they believe meets the customer's specifications.