The Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A) has conferred honorary life membership on its long-serving Chairman and voluntary CEO, Adrian Feeney.
The honour was presented at the society's annual general meeting in Melbourne for his conspicuous contributions to the society.
In presenting the award, SAE-A Senior Vice-President Greg Shoemark, said Adrian Feeney's contributions to SAE-A were greater than most members could imagine.
From 2001 to today he has been deeply involved in organising the Formula SAE-A university motorsport event, and he has twice served as President of SAE-A.
After serving from 2013 to 2016, he was part of the team that led SAE-A out of voluntary administration and he returned as President from 2017 until his retirement later this year.
Since 2017 he has also served as voluntary CEO, and has made good on his stated objective of "rebuilding the society and ensuring it remains relevant into the future".
Mr Shoemark said Adrian had shown a lifelong commitment to furthering the profession of mobility engineering which had formed the foundation of his working life.
"Adrian embodies an inspiring enthusiasm and relentless dedication that set an example for all of us involved in the running of SAE-A," he said.
"In his 21 years in the Formula SAE-A organising team, he has seen it grow in importance and transform into a showcase of the latest EV and autonomous vehicle technology.
"He brought the same commitment to last year's APAC21 engineering conference – it was Adrian more than anyone who refused to be defeated by Covid and led us to a great success.
"SAE-A is truly fortunate to have had such a leader in recent years, and I am happy to report that Adrian will remain at the head of Formula SAE-A."
Adrian Feeney started his career at General Motors Holden in 1976 in the Future Model Engineering Department and held numerous management roles including proving ground manager and engineering program manager before taking early retirement in 2013.
He will remain in the short term as voluntary CEO, and his successor as chairman and president is due to be elected by the Board next month.
… ends