How do standards improve vehicle design? | with Tim Yerdon of SAE International

John Heinlein (0:00)

Today in The Garage, we're recording live at Auto Tech 2026 in Novi, Michigan.

All around the show, you're seeing software and technology being used in exciting ways. And as technology becomes more complicated, it's always a trade off, and we've talked about this many times in the podcast, between what aspects of technology are common and what aspects of technology are differentiating and different across different customers and OEMs. And that's a difficult tradeoff that affects not only automotive and vehicles, but many industries where companies are always looking for things they can protect, innovations they can own and have differentiation. But at the same time, if they do everything themselves, the cost can be high and there's unnecessary duplication of efforts.

One way to crack that is standards. And there are a number of different standards bodies across different industries and different sectors of the world. But in vehicles in automotive, one of the most important standards bodies is SAE. And so we brought a senior leader from SAE to talk with us about what's the process of creating standards, what are some important standards that exist now, and some exciting ones they're working on. My guest today is Tim Yerdon. Tim is executive leader at SAE, and he'll talk about this whole process. And I learned a ton in this conversation. I hope you'll enjoy.

Let's go!

Welcome to The Garage. I'm John Heinlein, Chief Marketing Officer from Sonatus. We're here at Auto Tech 2026 in Novi, Michigan, and pleased to have Tim and the podcast with us today. Tim, welcome to The Garage. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. Yeah. Tim, we've managed to each other so many times. We've been on two panels already this year together, you and I. So I was thrilled to be able to get you to join us here at AutoTech. It's great. And thank you again for for having me.

And it's hard to believe we're halfway through the year and the amount of work that we've already done and the amount of work that still has to be done through December. So let's start by getting to know you a little bit. Tell us about you and your background.

So, you know, I'm unique in the industry as one of our my HR colleagues used to say, we're all unique in the fact that I've lived kind of a bifurcated life. So half of my career has been very technical on the R&D chief engineer side, and the other half has been on the marketing side. And now I find myself, after a career in the supply side, about twenty years on the supplier OEM side, two stints at OEMs. I started my career at Ford Motor Company in on the electrical side. Was at Visteon for about twenty years. Ended up going back to Ford Motor Company in a chief engineering role. And now I'm at a not for profit. So it's some some different turns and twists, but it's been a great journey.

Exciting. And we have to start. We always like to ask our guests a fun fact about you. Tell us about you. I spent some time in racing, but not racing from a driving standpoint, racing from a technology transfer perspective. So while I was at Visteon, we were actually building a lot of the electronics for different racing venues for Ford Motor Company, Jackie Stewart, Formula One, off road truck, at the time, IMSA Racing, which is road car racing. But my job was to take things that either existed in the portfolio and push them into racing to test and validate or things that were invented in racing that could have a commercial life after. So it was that technology transfer role that led me trackside that led to durability, the the mindset of going fast, driving speed, you know, making quick decisions on your feet, all the things that really help you throughout a thirty year career. That's a great fun fact. I don't think I can I can touch that, but I will say, resonating with your earlier point, you know, I had a PhD in engineering and I started my career in engineering before moving to marketing. And they were both exciting parts of my life. I love what I do now, but I began my career in engineering as well. Yep. Well, and I think, you know, what led me to this was, you know, somebody that can articulate the technical things into language that people can understand.

Exactly right. And, you know, that led to, hey, can you talk to the board? Oh, wait, can you talk to our investors on Wall Street? And I kept ended up more and more with these speaking engagements that led to just a different, you know, way to use my skills. It's precisely my story exactly. I tell it exactly like that. And that's how I talk with execs and investors and journalists and board members and analysts. So tell us about SAE, the company you're with, and your role there. Sure.