Jeffrey Wishart Finds Fulfillment in Variety of Experiences at SAE
Posted: January 31, 2024
A diverse set of experience can prepare you for anything—and Jeffrey Wishart has taken that to heart.
Jeffrey is the VP of Innovation, Mobility with the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) and Fellow at the Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz), a non-profit research organization under the ACA. As a leader in this space, Jeffrey conducts critical research within mobility.
In addition to his role at SFAz, he’s gotten involved in several areas within SAE International. As a standards committee member, SAE book author, and event session organizer and so much more, Jeffrey is making a lasting impact with SAE.
Jeffrey first got involved with SAE through the Hybrid EV committee while pursuing his PhD.
“I was just trying to get into the automotive industry and thought this would be a good way to network and understand what’s the cutting-edge of the industry,” Jeffrey said.
Today, Jeffrey is a member of 12 different SAE standards committees and tasks forces and is heavily involved in the Verification & Validation (V&V) Task Force under the On Road Automated Driving committee. He currently serves as Chair of the V&V Task Force and is sponsor of an upcoming recommended practice on metrics; SAE J3237, currently in its ballot period.
“I like the way SAE structures their standards committees in that everyone is an individual,” Jeffrey said. “You’re not acting as a representative of your organization, unless you’re [a] government [employee], and so people feel free to come in and give their opinions. You get a lot of opinions, but I think it makes for a better document.”
Jeffrey believes the diversity of stakeholders is essential to creating something relevant to today’s mobility ecosystem. Bringing together industry, academia, and government while also getting the public’s buy in allows for a healthy mix of knowledge and experience.
In addition to his role with SAE standards, Jeffrey is also a recent SAE book author.
Fundamentals of Connected and Automated Vehicles provides readers with the information required to make informed predictions about how and when connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) will impact their lives.
The book evolved from a graduate engineering class Jeffrey created and teaches on CAVs at Arizona State University, with each lecture translated into a chapter. As an introduction to the fundamentals of the concepts of CAVs, this book is beneficial for those with a technical background and those with a general interest in CAVs.
“CAVs are such an important topic these days that we need more engineers who have an understanding of these concepts, because these vehicles are coming,” he said. “They’re already here in larger numbers in the lower levels of automation (SAE Levels 1 and 2), while they are starting to be deployed in the higher levers (Levels 3 and 4, with Level 5 further in the future), so we really need a better understanding across the industry, government and public about what these vehicles do, what they can’t do, and their potential, while making sure we understand their safety impacts.”
And of course with all the work he’s done to improve the success of others in the industry, Jeffrey knows the value of presenting his work to his peers for feedback. For several years, Jeffrey has been presenting his research at WCX. Hearing from others on their different perspectives on this technology has impacted his own approach to research.
“After your work is reviewed and published people will contact you, either wanting to collaborate or start conversations on how to expand on your work. Publishing is an important part of the scientific process and opens doors to new opportunities,” Jeffrey said.
Jeffrey was recently featured on the “There Auto Be a Law” podcast where he discussed his SAE publication and the impact of CAVs. Check out the full episode here.