As many of you know, the Huntsville Section gives annual awards 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. Two additional awards honor the outstanding students in the UAH and A&M IEEE student branches, as chosen by their peers, and are also presented at the Engineer Week Banquet. The final award - Professional of the Year - is announced at the HATS POY banquet which in the past has usually been held in conjunction with their annual TEAMS week, but sometimes is separate. The recipients 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 Robert A. Robinson. Previous recipients have included Dennis Miller (2004), 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 Ronald Hackett, in recognition his years of faithful service as Joint Engineering Council of Alabama (JECA) representative. Other past recipients have included Keith Jadus (2004), Venkata Atluri (2003), Eric Grigorian (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. Fat Duen Ho, a member of the UAH faculty. Other recent recipients have included Dr. Bob Berinato (2004), Dr. Mervin Budge (2003), Dr. Jorge Auñón (2002), Dr. Reza Adhami (2001), and Trent Montgomery (2000).
Outstanding UAH and Outstanding A&M Student are two new awards instituted and given for the first time in 2005. The recipients are chosen by their own student IEEE branch, and must be members of that group. The first of these annual awards went to Matt McDougal (UAH) and Christopher Payne (A&M).
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 2005 our POY was our own Jim Anderson, in recognition of more than 10 years of unsurpassed service to the Huntsville Section in a wide variety of roles. Previous POY’s have included Eric Grigorian (2004), 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 potential nominators have not come forth because they perceive the nomination process to be difficult. Such is most definitely NOT the case! Except for the student awards, where nominations are the responsibility of the student branches, if you know a deserving person who meets the requirements stated above, simply send me his or her name and some basic biographical information. That’s ALL it takes! You don’t even have to tell them you are nominating them (we will notify your candidate in plenty of time if he or she is 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 or Eric Grigorian.