SOCIETY AWARDS

MERIT AWARD
Charles L. Melcher

The 2006 NPSS Merit Award was given to Chuck Melcher. Following a background in luminescence physics and materials science as a graduate student at Washington University and as a post-doc at Caltech, Chuck began to focus on scintillation materials while at Schlumberger-Doll Research. As Program Leader of Advanced Detectors, he led a group that conducted fundamental investigations of various scintillation materials for potential use as gamma-ray detectors in geophysical exploration. These investigations led to the development of compact gamma-ray detectors for down-hole water saturation measurements in producing oil wells, a technique that continues to be a commercial standard in the industry.
While at Schlumberger, Chuck invented a new scintillator material known as LSO (cerium-doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate, Lu2SiO5:Ce) which has outstanding properties for gamma ray detection. Its combination of high density and atomic number, high light output, and short decay time gave it significant advantages over previously known scintillators. LSO was quickly recognized as having particularly valuable properties for use in Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a molecular imaging technique for the early detection of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s. His first presentation about LSO earned an award at the NSS-MIC conference in Santa Fe, and the corresponding paper is one the most cited scintillator articles in the Transactions on Nuclear Science.
In 1996 Chuck moved to CTI, Inc. to form a team that would continue to develop LSO for commercial PET applications. This team collaborated with numerous researchers world wide to further investigate fundamental properties of LSO while also developing prototype growth systems to demonstrate large scale production feasibility. The successful development of a commercial scale growth process enabled the team to design and construct of one of the largest crystal manufacturing factories in the world whose output now provides LSO crystals for hundreds of Positron Emission Tomography systems annually. The factory also produces large crystals for potential use in particle physics experiments.
When CTI merged with Siemens Medical Solutions in 2005, Chuck organized a partnership between the University of Tennessee and Siemens to form the Scintillation Materials Research Center (SMRC). He joined the faculty of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee and became Director of the Center. The SMRC is a groundbreaking example of a cooperative partnership between industry and academia, providing unique research opportunities for engineering students and an integrated approach for the commercial realization of innovations in scintillation materials.
LSO has become the standard against which new scintillator materials are often compared. During the 15 years since its introduction, no scintillator has yet equaled its combination of high light yield, fast decay time, high density and atomic number, and environmental stability. Chuck not only discovered and patented LSO and carried out much of the initial basic research on its properties, but he also led its development to the industrial production level and its widespread implementation in positron emission tomography (PET). It is arguably the most commercially successful scintillator of the last 20 years, now used in nearly half of the clinical PET scanners currently manufactured as well as in the vast majority of small animal PET scanners. The discovery and commercialization of LSO is often mentioned as one of the major developments in nuclear medical imaging of the last few decades. In addition, it is now under consideration for the next generation of high energy physics calorimeters.
Chuck has been an active member of the IEEE and the NPSS for many years. In addition to numerous program committees, he has served on the Radiation Instrumentation Steering Committee and the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. He currently serves as Vice Chair and Chair-elect of the Radiation Instrumentation Technical Committee. In addition, he serves as Associate Editor of the Transactions on Nuclear Science.
Citation: For outstanding contributions to the field of scintillation materials, particularly for the invention, development, and commercialization of LSO scintillators and the resulting impact on positron emission tomography and nuclear medicine.
Chuck Melcher can be reached at Scintillation Materials Research Center, University of Tennessee,Knoxville, TN 37996-2000; Phone: +1 865 974-0254: Fax: +1 865 974-4998: E-mail: cmelcher@utk.edu.

RICHARD F. SHEA DISTINGUISHED MEMBER AWARD
Paul V. Dressendorfer

Paul V. Dressendorfer received the B.S. degree in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1972, and the M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in Solid State Physics from Yale University in 1973, 1974, and 1978, respectively. He recently retired from Sandia National Laboratories as the manager of the Biomolecular Interfaces and Systems Department at Sandia National Laboratories. This group focused on the science of integration of biomolecular processes, biological principles, biomimetic materials, and biomolecular function into nano- and microscale systems. His earlier research activities and publications have covered a wide range of areas including semiconductor device physics, basic radiation damage mechanisms, characterization of radiation effects, hardened technology development, hardness assurance, optoelectronic devices, multichip modules, advanced electronic and microsystem packaging, thermal management, frequency devices, sensors and transducers, and microsystem electronics. He has been active in a variety of IEEE activities, including positions such as general chair of the Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC) and of the Semiconductor Interface Specialists Conference (SISC), short course instructor and chair of the NSREC, technical program chair of the SISC, IEEE Section Membership chair, IEEE Standards Committee member, and member of the NPSS AdCom, Radiation Effects Steering Group, and Radiation Instrumentation Steering Committee. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a recipient of the IEEE Third Millennium Award. He has been the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science since 1993, is currently the Editor-in-Chief (Chair of the Publications Committee) of the NPSS, and is the NPSS Liaison to the TAB Transactions Committee. He recently reorganized the Editorial Board and review processes for the Transactions on Nuclear Science; a similar structure is also being implemented in the Transactions on Plasma Science.
Citation: In appreciation of 14 years as editor for NPSS. Special recognition as Editor-in–Chief for reorganizing and implementing an effective operating structure for the Transactions on Nuclear Science.
Paul Dressendorfer can be reached at p.dressendorfer@ieee.org.

EARLY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
JOHN W. LUGINSLAND

John Luginsland received the B.S.E, M.S.E, and Ph.D. degrees from Department of Nuclear Engineering at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His doctoral research involved the theoretical and computational analysis of two-beam accelerators, field emission physics, and coherent microwave generation. In 1996, he joined the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, NM – first as a National Research Council Resident Postdoctoral Research Associate, and later as a staff member in the Center for Plasma Theory and Computation. In 2001, he moved to Science Applications International Corporation as a senior scientist and program manager. In 2003, he joined NumerEx of Albuquerque, NM, at a satellite office in Ithaca, NY.
At AFRL, Dr. Luginsland performed research advancing the state-of-the-art in both high power microwave (HPM) sources and high performance computational models of electromagnetic devices. He led a team in basic research of multi-dimensional space-charge limited flows that led to mitigation of pulse shortening in the magnetically insulated line oscillator. He also participated in the development of ICEPIC, a massively parallel electromagnetic particle-in-cell code, with application to HPM sources. He and his colleagues were honored with the Air Force’s Advanced Technology Development Award during this time.
At SAIC, Dr. Luginsland developed parametric design tools for advanced armor and survivability systems, which remain in use today. He was a program manager and test planner in integrating these systems into next generation platforms.
At NumerEx, Dr. Luginsland has applied computational plasma physics to closely support experimental technology development at various phases of maturity, in compact HPM sources, emission physics and cathode designs, MHD effects in high power fuses for survivability systems, electrically enhanced combustion, and quantum vacuum nanoelectronics. His wider interests include the coupling of parametric and first-principles physics software, high-performance computing and optimization algorithms, and application of virtual prototyping to speed development and deployment of electromagnetic high technology systems.
The award will be presented at the Pulsed Power Plasma Science conference in Albuquerque, NM in June 2006.
Citation: For contributions to the development and application of theoretical and computational methods leading to enhanced understanding and improved experimental performance of high current diodes and high power microwave sources.
John W. Luginsland has been a member of the IEEE and NPSS since 1994, and can be reached at NumerEx, 401 E. State St., Suite 304, Ithaca, NY 14850; Phone: +1 607 277-4272; Fax: +1 607 697-0212; E-mail: John.Luginsland@NumerEx.com

GRADUATE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Xin Dai

Xin Dai was born in Hubei China in 1976. He received his B.E. degree in 1996 and M.S. degree in 1999, both in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and technology, Wuhan, China, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, in 2006. He is currently a Postdoctoral affiliate at Plasma Science Laboratory at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. His research interests include industrial plasma research and application, especially at atmospheric pressure, pulsed power and high power electronics.
Dr. Xin Dai is a member of IEEE, AIAA and APS.

Carrie B. Hruska

Carrie Hruska has been named a recipient of the IEEE NPSS Graduate Scholarship Award given to recognize contributions to the fields of Nuclear and Plasma Sciences. Hruska is a graduate student at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, MN and will graduate with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in May 2007. She received her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from South Dakota State University in 2002.
Hruska’s doctoral thesis research is focused on the use of small pixilated detectors for a nuclear medicine technique to image breast cancer, called Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI). She is currently working with a prototype CZT detector, and the goal of her work is to advance MBI by examining the patient-related factors that limit tumor detection, optimizing the technical parameters of the imaging system, and developing a method to localize tumors in the breast. The central hypothesis is that recent advances in small detector technology combined with new radiopharmaceuticals will permit the development of an MBI system that will provide reliable detection and localization of small breast tumors (< 10 mm). MBI is currently under evaluation at Mayo as a screening technique for women with dense breast tissue who are at increased risk for breast cancer.

Randolph McKinley

Randolph McKinley recently received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in Sept. 2006. He currently works in the Multi-Modality Imaging Lab (MMIL) at Duke concentrating on X-ray computed mammotomography, a dedicated 3D breast imaging technique, which includes a practicable quasi-monochromatic cone beam X-ray source that can move about an object 3-dimensionally collecting transmission data. In addition, he holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University and Bachelor of Science degrees in both Biology and Electrical Engineering from University of New Brunswick.

Xing Zhou

Xing Zhou is in the process of completing her PhD research in the interdisciplinary graduate program in materials science at Vanderbilt University. She has made significant contributions to the understanding of the separate and combined effects of bias-temperature stress and ionizing radiation exposure for MOS devices with high-K dielectric materials. Xing has authored 11 publications, and was first author on four of them. A paper on which Xing was first author, “Bias-temperature instabilities and radiation effects in MOS devices,” was one of 11 papers nominated for the Outstanding Conference Paper Award at the 2005 IEEE Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference (IEEE NSREC) in Seattle, WA. She also received a Paul Phelps Continuing Education Grant for the 2006 IEEE NSREC in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
Xing Zhou can be reached by e-mail at: xing.zhou@vanderbilt.edu