Welcome to a bold new way to read and experience SAE International’s Aerospace Engineering & Manufacturing (AEM) magazine.
Filled with the in-depth technical news and analysis that you have come to expect, the new all-digital AEM features state-of-the-art search capabilities, customizable viewing preferences, and more frequent distribution. AEM will now be published every other week through the end of 2009 and will then go weekly in 2010, enabling you to access the latest information more often and in a more timely manner.
It’s an exciting new venture for SAE International, and I hope that you find it as useful and worthwhile as we believe it is.
OK, enough of the marketing speak. Let’s talk about why we made this change.
As every business person knows, especially those working in the mobility engineering profession, the willingness and ability to change when needed is crucial to success. Engineers need to be able and willing to alter a design to accommodate new standards or regulations; financial planners need to be able and willing to change budgets to accommodate unforeseen developments; and executives need to be able and willing to change business plans so that their companies stay ahead of trend curves and not just keep up with them.
We recognize the importance of change here at SAE International. For the last several months, this organization has been going through a sort of “reinvention.” We’re taking a good, hard look at our products and services and determining what works well and what doesn’t and, more importantly, what delivers the most value to our members and customers. The decision to discontinue the print version of this magazine and go all-digital was done with great thought and consideration. We wanted to create a product that provides the excellent technical information that our readers have asked for and do it in such a way that enables SAE International to better achieve its mission. We believe we have achieved that twin objective with this new format.
We’re also incorporating features based on customer input that not only makes this a new way to offer AEM but a better way as well. I listed some of the benefits earlier in this article. In addition to them, you’ll be able to easily search current and past digital AEM issues, print whole or parts of issues, locally save documents, and bookmark pages and append notes.
The bottom line? More value, more information, more options, and more quality. As you browse through the first all-digital issue of AEM, take the time to test all of the different capabilities that are available. Or, if you’re in a hurry (aren’t we all?), save it to your laptop or mobile device and browse through it later (another great feature of being all-digital). I am sure that you will find the new format and expanded article selection to be very helpful both professionally and personally.
I always welcome your feedback and that’s especially so in this case. Please feel free to share your thoughts regarding AEM or anything else related to SAE International and the mobility engineering industry. E-mail to focus@sae.org.
David L. Schutt, SAE Chief Executive Officer