The Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A) has elected Gary White as its President, taking over from Adrian Feeney in a unanimous vote by the Board.

Three new directors have also joined the Board: Paul Nation, who has been elected Treasurer; Martha Oplopiadis; and Noi Vera.
Dr Gary White is a Chartered Professional Engineer, a Fellow of Engineers Australia, and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He has held engineering and leadership roles at GM-Holden and Kenworth Trucks, and worked in R&D with Scalzo Automotive Research Ltd, AutoCRC Ltd and Excellerate Australia Ltd.

Gary has a passion for vehicle electrification, automation and infrastructure, and helped establish multiple Australian cooperative research centres and their R&D programs, worth more than $240 million in local and international funding. He has overseen the scholarship funding of more than 120 post-graduate researchers, and is a steadfast advocate for delivery of industry-ready graduates. He has served on Swinburne's Mechanical Engineering Course Advisory Committee for 16 years.

Paul Nation is a serving Army Officer with accumulated experience as a military vehicle technician, maintenance manager, trainer and automotive engineer across multiple locations and roles in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and the United States.

Lt Col Nation holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Automotive Engineering from RMIT University and a Master of Science and PhD from the University of Maryland, USA. Separate from his military career, he has established several engineering consultancy businesses in the Northern Territory offering specialist advice and services to government stakeholders and various industries. He is a Certified Practising Engineer, a Member of Engineers Australia and the Institute of Automotive Engineers, and a member of the Standards Australia QR-005 Dependability Committee.

Martha Oplopiadis is an electrical engineer, with a major in Electronics and Data Communications, and is a global leader with experience operating at senior levels developing strategies to drive project outcomes in a complex stakeholder environment.
Martha's career spans 26 years within the automotive and rail infrastructure industries through roles she has held on major projects in engineering, project delivery and business readiness. She has worked at Alstom, General Motors-Holden, Ford Motor Company and is currently program manager – commercial and project controls with Metro Trains Melbourne on the Metro Tunnel Project.

Noi Vera is a mechanical engineer with a passion for vehicles and academic excellence, who received four scholarships for her academic performance, fuelling her drive to seek as much hands-on knowledge as possible.

Noi completed four internships, including one based in China and one with SAE-A working on the zero emissions emergency vehicles project, aligning perfectly with her interest in the future of the automotive field. Noi was active in Formula SAE-A during her university years, and also presented a paper on the use of Augmented and Virtual Reality in engineering at the APAC21 conference hosted by SAE-A last year. Currently working as a graduate mechanical engineer at Supacat, Noi is determined to make a positive impact in the field of mechanical engineering.