Introducing Neil Schilke, SAE President for 2001

General Motors' former top engineer in Canada brings a systems engineering mentality, along with high expectations, to the SAE presidency.

Talk about a good fit. Neil Schilke swears he did not write the job description for SAE President, but, given the extent to which his résumé matches it, one cannot be blamed for suspecting so. It turns out the newly appointed General Director of Engineering for Corporate Staffs at General Motors Corp. fashioned himself a spot atop the SAE hierarchy the same way his presidential predecessors did: by working hard and succeeding on the job, volunteering to serve SAE in multiple capacities, and developing a vision for the future.

It may not be the best fit of his career, but that's only because his previous jobs also seem to have been carved out in his shape. Not coincidentally, they all required a great capacity for systems thinking.