As many of you know, the Huntsville Section gives four awards annually to recognize outstanding members of the Huntsville community for their accomplishments and service. The first three, traditionally presented at the Engineer Week Banquet in February, are Outstanding Engineer, Outstanding Service, and Outstanding Educator. The fourth award, Professional of the Year, is presented at the HATS’ POY banquet in conjunction with their annual TEAMS week. The recipients will receive a plaque and two tickets to the awards presentation ceremony.

The Outstanding Engineer award is typically given to an electrical engineer or engineering supervisor based on career accomplishments. The recipient MUST be a member of the IEEE. Last year’s recipient was Dennis Miller, a senior software engineer at General Dynamics Tactical C2 Systems. Previous recipients have included David Hardaker (2003), Willie J. Fitzpatrick (2002), Buddy Bishop (2001), and Larry Fullerton (2000).

The Outstanding Service award is usually presented to a member of the Huntsville Section Executive Committee, although it is not necessarily limited to that purpose. The recipient MUST be a member of the IEEE, and have made a substantial contribution to that organization through voluntary service. Last year’s recipient was our own Keith Jadus, in recognition his years of faithful service as Treasurer and Vice Chairman. (As you can see, his service is continuing, as he was elected Chair for 2005 at the Annual Meeting). Other past recipients have included Venkata Atluri (2003), Eric Gregorian (2002), Sonya Hutchinson and Will Preussel (2001), and Scott Trites (2000).

The Outstanding Educator award recognizes an IEEE member who has made significant contributions in the field of technical education. It is not necessarily restricted to professional educators or to educators at the collegiate level. Last year we recognized Dr. Bob Berinato, an Engineer at Dynetics who is also a part-time faculty member at UAH. Other recent recipients have included Mervin Budge (2003), Dr. Jorge Auñón (2002), Dr. Reza Adhami (2001), and Trent Montgomery (2000).

Professional of the Year usually recognizes a major figure in the Huntsville technical business community for his lifetime accomplishments. Unlike the other awards, the recipient need not be a member of IEEE. In 2004 our POY was our own Eric Grigorian. Previous POY’s have included Tom Hausner of BAE (2003) Marc Bendickson CEO of Dynetics (2002), Mark Smith CEO of ADTRAN (2001), and Roy Nichols former CEO of Nichols Research (2000).

In the past, most nominations for these awards have come from members of the Executive Committee, although that is neither necessary or in some ways totally desirable. Perhaps others have not come forth because they perceive the nomination process to be difficult. Such is most definitely NOT the case. If you know a deserving person who meets the requirements stated above, simply send me his or her name and some biographical information. That’s ALL it takes! You don’t even have to tell them you are nominating them (we will notify them in plenty of time if they are selected). Multiple nominations and even self-nomination is permissible. However you MUST get your nominations to me prior to the February ExCom meeting (scheduled for 2 February 2005). I prefer to receive nominations by e-mail at willard.preussel@dynetics.com, but if you have questions you can call me at (256) 964-4218. Or, if it is more convenient for you, you can talk to one of the other awards committee members, Woody Williams at woody@imagefactorsouth.com or 837-1391, or Eric Grigorian at egrigorian@ieee.org or 730-4701.