SAWE

Key takeaways

SAWE belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SAWE to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SAWE from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) is a professional society of engineers that pertains to the specific field of Mass Properties.

The SAWE The Society of Allied Weight Engineers is an international organization whose primary purpose is to promote the recognition of “Mass Properties Engineering” as a specialized branch of engineering. The Society is organized into 22 chapters with members from across the United States, Brazil, Europe, United Kingdom, and Canada.

History of the SAWE The Society of Aeronautical Weight Engineers was organized in 1939 in Los Angeles, California, and was incorporated as a nonprofit organization April 2, 1941. As membership grew to include engineers associated with shipbuilding, land transportation, and other allied industries and technologies, the Society name was changed on January 1, 1973 to the Society of Allied Weight Engineers, Inc.

Purpose of the SAWE The Society offers to members and industry a medium for the pooling and exchange of data and experience at local and regional levels, fostering a higher degree of efficiency in Mass Properties Engineering topics. Regular chapter, regional and international meetings provide an opportunity for mass properties engineers to meet and to discuss mutual problems, procedures and specifications, thus broadening their individual horizons and becoming better informed. The aims of the Society are focused on several key areas, among which are:

• Providing a means for those interested in Mass Properties Engineering to work together to further their professional goals. • Promoting recognition of Mass Properties Engineering as a specialized discipline in the entire spectrum of professional engineering. • Serving as a medium for the exchange of current mass properties related techniques and state of the art improvements in the profession. • Promoting the design and manufacture of optimum weight equipment, development of new materials, and improvements in the state of the art. • Encouraging members to promote continuous improvement in the interrelations between mass properties engineers for mutual benefit. • Publicly recognizing any person or organization that significantly enhances the professionalism of the Society or develops new technology that improves the state of the art of Mass Properties Engineering efficiencies. • Promoting the inclusion of Mass Properties Engineering in the curriculum of study in institutions of higher learning. • Providing training for those working in the field of Mass Properties Engineering.

Mass Properties Engineering Think for a moment about the latest new milestone in technology in the news today: an innovative new fuel efficient car, the next-generation fighter jet for the US Air Force, the newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the 21st century, a new high resolution imaging satellite, an advanced unmanned underwater vehicle for national defense, the first commercial cargo transportation vehicle to service the International Space Station, or the world's largest commercial airliner... what do they all have in common? They all rely on Mass Properties Engineering for their success. Mass Properties Engineering refers to the prediction, determination, management, and tracking of weight, centers of gravity, moments of inertia, and products of inertia for any new vehicle; which are critical factors for determination of its performance and capabilities. Mass Properties Engineering, a.k.a. “Weight Engineering”, is the technical discipline that balances the weight and moment of every component of a product to ensure that it functions safely, efficiently, and economically. Behind just about every technological achievement is a successful application of Mass Properties Engineering.

Mass Properties Engineers Mass Properties Engineers are creative thinkers who use math and science to solve problems. They come from a variety of backgrounds: aerospace engineering, ocean engineering, automotive engineering, naval architecture, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, math or physics; to name just a few. Still others come from operational backgrounds in the military, or other technical fields like teaching or production. However, they all share a common interest in making things work by successfully integrating the efforts from many diverse technical disciplines and blending them into an effective solution for all.

SAWE Technical Papers and Publications As noted, since 1939 the Society of Allied Weight Engineers has been promoting recognition of Mass Properties Engineering as a specialized discipline. One principal method of accomplishing this is to make technical content available to its members. The SAWE publishes technical papers and proceedings from International Conferences through its "Weight Engineering Journal" and on the Internet. The SAWE has produced college level text books covering aircraft and marine mass properties engineering. The SAWE also publishes the "Weight Engineer's Handbook", a collection of engineering formulas and data, used as a reference by engineers of all disciplines.

SAWE Standards The SAWE creates Standards and Recommended Practices for the mass properties design and acquisition communities. The SAWE is the professional society which integrates mass properties best practices across all the transportation sectors: air, sea, space, and ground. The Society Standards effort is international in scope and compliant with modern Open Development of Standards Processes. Recommended Practices will usually, though not always, arise out of the activity of groups within SAWE such as the Standards and Practices Committee. The Recommended Practices will represent the consensus and expertise of the group regarding such topics as design criteria, matters of procedure, etc.; which, when approved by the Board of Directors, are made available as Standard Practices Recommended by SAWE. The present list of Recommended Practices includes:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SAWE

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SAWE claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SAWE before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SAWE ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SAWE

In research: SAWE appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SAWE in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SAWE is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mechanical engineering organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SAWE outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study SAWE in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SAWE means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SAWE out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SAWE in simple terms?

The Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) is a professional society of engineers that pertains to the specific field of Mass Properties. The SAWE The Society of Allied Weight Engineers is an international organization whose primary purpose is to promote the recognition of “Mass Properties Engin…

Why does SAWE matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SAWE?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SAWE.