James David Power III to Receive Inaugural SAE International Subir Chowdhury Medal of Quality Leadership Award

WARRENDALE, PA--April 1, 2011: James David Power III, founder of J.D. Power and Associates, will be honored at the 2011 SAE World Congress. Mr. Power will receive the first ever SAE International Subir Chowdhury Medal of Quality Leadership award to recognize his significant contributions affecting customer satisfaction across many different fields. The SAE Awards Ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at Cobo Center in Detroit, MI.

The purpose of the award is to bring an awareness of the beneficial impact provided to society at large that has been attained by mobility engineering through the use and power of quality in engineering, design and manufacture. This serves to broaden the vision, scope and perception of SAE International as an organization, and highlights the contribution of individuals and their innovative work in this area. The award also demonstrates the deeper scope and reach of SAE International and the mobility engineering professions to the public.

Mr. Power has spent almost 50 years as a pioneer in customer satisfaction work, with 40 years as founder of what has become one of the most prestigious marketing information companies in the world, J.D. Power and Associates. The company numbers among its clients virtually every automotive manufacturer and importer serving the U.S. market, in addition to clients in many other industries around the world. The company's reputation as a premier resource of customer satisfaction data and consultancies has led to research and projects in a variety of industries including automotive, financial services, telecommunications, travel, home building, utilities and healthcare. Dave founded J.D. Power and Associates in 1968 and sold the company to The McGraw-Hill Companies in 2005.

Today Mr. Power focuses attention on several boards of directors and his family's philanthropic interests.  He frequently speaks to top management and boards of directors of companies worldwide.

In 1992, Mr. Power was a recipient of the Automotive Hall of Fame's Distinguished Service Citation, awarded each year to seven of the industry's most accomplished leaders. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from several colleges and universities and is the patriarch of his family's foundation dedicated to education, entrepreneurship, and medical research.

Dr. Subir Chowdhury is an SAE Fellow and past recipient of the SAE Henry Ford II Distinguished Award for Excellence in Automotive Engineering. His works provide benefit in the areas of product, process and system design, time to market, cost reduction, quality improvements, manufacturing, and workforce knowledge. His contributions have profoundly affected the quality and engineering professions.

SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion and the Collegiate Design Series.