WARRENDALE, Pa., Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SAE International will offer four new professional development courses in conjunction with the SAE 2013 World Congress & Exhibition. The courses will be held Monday-Friday, April 15-19 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit.

The courses include:

• Robust Design (http://www.sae.org/pdevent/C1231) – Engineers are taught to create designs that meet customer specifications. When creating these designs, the focus is usually on the nominal values rather than variation. Robustness refers to creating designs that are insensitive to variability in the inputs. Much of the literature on robustness is dedicated to experimental techniques, particularly Taguchi techniques, which advocate using experiments with replications to estimate variation. This course presents mathematical formulas based on derivatives to determine system variation based on input variation and knowledge of the engineering function. If the function is unknown, experimental techniques are presented to efficiently estimate a function.
• Corrosion Engineering and Prevention (http://www.sae.org/pdevent/C1217) –  The transportation industry, including motor vehicles, aircraft, rail, marine, commercial, off-road and defense vehicles, as well as infrastructures, energy sectors, raw materials, manufacturing, health and food industries all experience significant issues with corrosion which results in billions of dollars of loss each year. Corrosion education and prevention is essential to improve and increase the service life of parts and components which may have a significant impact on the economy of various industries and nations. The focus of this course will be on the fundamentals of corrosion engineering and corrosion prevention of metallic and alloy structures as well as on non-metallic composites and hybrid materials. Recent challenges and opportunities in corrosion of advanced composites used in the automotive, aerospace, and marine industries as well as for underground structures for oil, gas, geothermal and tidal wave technologies will also be included.
• Applying Automotive EDR Data to Traffic Crash Reconstruction (http://www.sae.org/pdevent/C1210) – EDR's are not new, but are becoming more prevalent in part due to a new federal regulation. 49 CFR, Part 563, which affects vehicles produced after September 30, 2012, will result in a standardized and publicly available EDR in 90% of new vehicles. Accident Reconstructionists frequently have trouble reconciling EDR data with other data sources, and improvements in ABS technology result in fewer tire marks visible at the scene of crashes to allow calculation of pre-crash speeds without an EDR. This course will provide the participant with the skills necessary to analyze EDR data that has already been imaged, apply it to crash reconstruction, and reconcile it with calculations using other data sources. The course will enable the participant to analyze any current and future EDR data set without regard to manufacturer.
• High-Performance Differentials, Axles and Drivelines (http://www.sae.org/pdevent/C1113) – Every automobile has a differential and most have axles, yet the exact function of these is not common knowledge. This comprehensive seminar introduces participants to the function and interfaces of axles and their individual components. As we modify cars for street performance or all out race applications, it is important to know the trade-offs in the drivetrain system. The theory and practice of axle systems is introduced along with a hands-on style approach to repairing and modifying axles for high performance applications. For this hands-on approach, actual hardware will be reviewed in an informal setting. The seminar begins by defining the axle fundamentals and operation followed by an in-depth review of original equipment axles, differentials, torque bias, hypoid gears and rebuild steps. The different manufacturing and service techniques required for different gear architectures is also reviewed.

For more information, contact SAE Customer Service at: 1-877-606-7323 (U.S. and Canada only) or 1-724-776-4970 (outside U.S. and Canada), or by email at customerservice@sae.org.

SAE International is a global association of more than 133,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™.

- www.sae.org -

Contact: Shawn Andreassi of SAE International, 724-772-8522 or pr@sae.org

SOURCE SAE International