The Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE, said it will cancel WCX, its annual engineering world congress, the organization’s event in Detroit for automotive engineers, because of the coronavirus. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has banned gatherings of more than 250 people in the state.
The three-day event, which attracts thousands of engineers and hundreds of exhibitors, was scheduled to take place April 21-23 at TCF Center (the former Cobo Center) in downtown Detroit. SAE officials were considering late Friday offering some of the popular speaker panels online.
« Due to concerns around the rapidly
evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, SAE International has made the
difficult decision to cancel the WCX 2020 World Congress Experience,
originally scheduled for April 21-23, in Detroit.
Before making this decision, we extensively monitored and evaluated health
guidance from international health authorities, government- and corporate-imposed
travel restrictions, and the recently declared State of Emergency issued by the
State of Michigan.
« WCX has long been the marquee industry event for showcasing
technological innovations in the world of mobility, and we are currently
evaluating alternate options for how to best deliver the technical content that
has been developed to registered attendees. We remain firmly committed to
prioritizing the health and safety of our members, customers, partners and
staff who are attending our events, and apologize for any inconvenience this
cancellation has caused