IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award

Sponsored by: IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society, IEEE Control Systems Society, and IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

Nomination Form  |  Recipients | Committee Roster

Nomination Deadline - January 31st

The IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1986 to recognize outstanding contributions to space engineering, within the fields of interest of the IEEE.  This award is presented to an individual or team, with preference given to an individual.

The Award is named in honor of IEEE Member Judith Resnik, who was a Mission Specialist on the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded on 28 January 1986. Dr. Resnik was a biomedical engineer and staff Fellow with the National Institute of Health when she was selected by NASA in 1978 to join the Space Program. She first flew as a NASA Mission Specialist on the maiden voyage of the orbiter Discovery, which, during 96 orbits of the earth, deployed three satellites and removed hazardous ice particles from the orbiter using the Remote Manipulator System, a Shuttle 50-foot robot arm for which Dr. Resnik developed operational Procedures and Software. Among other NASA projects, Dr. Resnik developed deployment procedures for a Tethered Satellite System.

Recipient selection is administered by the Technical Field Awards Council of the IEEE Awards Board.

In the evaluation process, the following criteria are considered: developments, inventions, systems or methods of significance in the field of space engineering for which candidate deserves principal credit, together with the approximate year in which these were accomplished, and the quality of the nomination.

The award consists of a bronze medal, certificate and honorarium.