Automotive Engineering - June 2021 - 3

EDITORIAL
Bill Visnic
Editorial Director
Bill.Visnic@sae.org
Lindsay Brooke
Editor-in-Chief
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Paul Seredynski
Senior Editor
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Ryan Gehm
Associate Editor
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Jennifer Shuttleworth
Associate Editor
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Lisa Arrigo
Custom Electronic
Products Editor
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Contributors
Kami Buchholz
Detroit Editor
Stuart Birch
European Editor
Terry Costlow
Electronic Technologies Editor
Bradley Berman
U.S. West Coast Editor
Sebastian Blanco, Don Sherman,
Paul Weissler
DESIGN
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EDITORIAL
Farewell and thanks, Mr. Birch
" We pay close attention to the SAE magazines
because your guy in Europe writes
interesting articles, " a BMW engineering
executive told me one year at the
Frankfurt Motor Show. He was referring to
Stuart Birch, our veteran European Editor,
who has recently decided - after nearly
37 years of outstanding reporting for SAE
International - to hang up his keyboard
and spend more time with his wife, Kim,
their family and friends in the British
countryside, and his classic Porsche 911.
Our staff had been dreading the day
that Stuart would announce his retirement,
foremost because he's been a great friend
as well as a colleague. And because journalists
with his qualities - professionalism,
perspective, a powerful work ethic and
great wit - are increasingly rare in the mobility-technology
space. As SAE's global
audience knew, Stuart Birch delivered
compelling technical and business information.
He covered product, processes
and people with equal poise. And he
thrived on the R&D beat: Virtual reality.
Batteries. Thermal management. 3D printing.
Electronics and sensors. Artificial intelligence.
Smart materials. Testing tools.
Advanced aerodynamics.
Most senior auto writers, if still active
beyond age 70, revert to regrinding history
for classic-car magazines. Birch, by
comparison, remained intrigued by and
committed to the technology future. His
recent stuff on SAE.org shines.
Stuart's unbroken association with
SAE's ground-and-air media portfolio
began in fall 1984, at age 41. It followed
his career as a U.K. newspaper journalist
specializing in the aerospace, defense,
and automotive industries. His major outlets
were The London Times and Daily
Telegraph. By the time he had joined
SAE, Stuart had dived deep in a Royal
Navy nuclear submarine and racked up
many hours in dozens of front-line military
aircraft, including U.S. B-52 and RAF
Avro Vulcan strategic bombers, the
English Electric Lightning and McDonnell
F-4 Phantom Mach-2 jet fighters, and
several VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing)
flights in BAE Harriers.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
Stuart Birch at the wheel of his Porsche 911 in
2021, and in flight gear as the first journalist to
get a back-seat ride in the RAF's Tornado strike
fighter in the 1980s.
He was the first journalist to fly in an
RAF Panavia Tornado strike fighter and
once experienced " a worrying moment "
in a SEPECAT Jaguar bomber during a
cockpit-systems emergency " while flying
at 250 feet and 500 knots - which had
my hand on the ejection seat handle in a
nanosecond. But I didn't leave! " he said.
Such heart-pounding aerial experiences
were ample preparation for covering
grounded developments in passenger
and commercial vehicles. " I was very
proud to fly SAE's flag in Europe, " he
told me recently. He quickly gained the
attention of engineers at all levels across
the continent. The late VW Group supremo
Ferdinand Piech was among the
fans of Birch's objective, detailed reporting
in Automotive Engineering.
Highlights from Stuart's notebooks
chronicle Ferrari test sessions at Monza;
driving in a Saab speed-and-distance
record session at the high-banked
Talladega Raceway (where the factory
engineers told him to " stick to around
150 mph up near the wall " ) and piloting
the newly-launched Bugatti Veyron
through Italy with 1,000 hp on tap.
" It has been a privilege to have written
for the organization for such a lengthy
period - and a great privilege to have
worked with such dedicated, supportive,
highly professional editorial teams, particularly
so in recent years, " Stuart said.
From the SAE editors and our readers:
Back at you, Mr. Birch.
Lindsay Brooke, Editor-in-Chief
June 2021 3
KIM BIRCH AND STUART BIRCH ARCHIVE
http://www.SAE.org
Automotive Engineering - June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - June 2021
