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IEEE Fellow has been judged to have made extraordinary contributions
in any of the IEEE fields of interest that are of significant value
to the profession and society. That’s pretty heady stuff,
but the entire evaluation process is predicated on identifying a
candidate’s primary contribution and its significance and
impact. In 2006, the following NPSS members met these lofty standards
and were elected to the grade of IEEE Fellow: Paul Bernhardt, Christopher
Deeney, Ronald Gilgenbach, Ian McNab, William Moses, Marek Moszynski,
Edward Petersen, and David Townsend. Congratulations to our new
fellows!
Each year, the NPSS FEC is asked to evaluate nominations from our
eight diverse technical areas, e.g., pulsed power, nuclear medical
imaging, radiation effects, etc. Individual members of the NPSS
FEC are expert in these technical areas, but each member of the
committee is asked to evaluate all NPSS nominations as a generalist.
This may seem daunting, but the committee quickly comes to a consensus
about the top candidates for that year. These evaluations are forwarded
to the national IEEE FEC where the final decisions are made. I served
on the national IEEE FEC for three years and know that the society
evaluations often carry the day. After all, who knows how to evaluate
and rank candidates better than the societies?
There are many deserving nominations thatdon’t make the cut
each year because IEEE limits the number of newly-elected fellows
to one-tenth percent of the total voting Institute membership; this
number is typically about 250. In general, about 40% of the nominations
the NPSS FEC evaluates are elevated to fellow grade. Last year,
it was 42%, which is considerably higher than other societies that
typically average 30-35%. I’d like to believe it’s because
of the high-quality nominations we receive and the careful work
done by the NPSS FEC to present our candidates in the strongest
possible light. With respect to the latter, the NPSS FEC provides
a summary form for each nomination that includes a ranking, but
also a synopsis of the candidate qualifications for fellow grade.
Almost anyone can serve as a nominator of a candidate for IEEE Fellow
grade; you do not even have to be an IEEE member. But, for perhaps
obvious reasons, the following cannot be nominators: members of
the IEEE Board of Directors, members of the IEEE Fellow Committee,
chairs and members of IEEE Technical Society/Council Fellow Evaluating
Committees, or IEEE Staff.
A nomination must be supported by at least five, but no more than
eight references from active IEEE Fellows. A list of IEEE Fellows
can be found at the IEEE Fellow Program Web Site or in the current
IEEE Membership Directory. In addition, a Fellow Nomination Resource
Center (FNRC) was established. The purpose of the Center is to assist
nominators in locating the required number of references to support
a nomination to IEEE Fellow Grade. The Center will operate on an
experimental basis for a three-year period. It is a volunteer support
group comprised of a Chair and Case Managers, all of whom must be
IEEE Fellow grade members. Nominators desiring assistance from the
FNRC must initiate a request by sending an e-mail to FNRC@ieee.org.
The biggest stumbling point for nominations is getting five references.
If possible, nominators should list eight references. That way,
if one or two references can’t meet the deadline, the nomination
still has the required five references. It is also important for
nominators to communicate with the references and verify that they
actually sent in the reference. This is the third year for the IEEE
Electronic Fellow Nomination Process, which no doubt makes it easier
to submit references.
The IEEE Board of Directors recently approved changes to the process
for nominating and electing IEEE members to Fellow Grade. The goal
of these changes is to increase the number of nominations received
for members from industry and to make the process more receptive
to nominations received for application engineers or engineering
practitioners who have made contributions of unusual distinction
to the profession. Specifically, the changes established a new nomination
category for individual contributions, “Application Engineer/Practitioner.”
This category recognizes significant contributions in “product
development, advancement in system, application or operation, project
management or construction activity, process development, manufacturing
innovation, codes or standards development, or other application
of technology.”
Also, the existing designation; “Engineer/ Scientist”
was changed to, “Research Engineer/ Scientist.” The
other existing categories, “Educator” and “Technical
Leader” remain the same. So, the IEEE now recognizes contributions
in four distinct categories.
The deadline for receipt of the Fellow Nomination Forms and Reference
letters is the 1st of March, 2007. Nominating forms, detailed instructions,
and frequently asked questions can be found at the IEEE Fellow Program
Web Site at www.ieee.org/fellows. Don’t wait to get started.
Each year, several nominations just make the deadline.
Who is eligible to be nominated? The following requirements are
from the IEEE Fellow Program Web Site: “To be nominated, the
candidate must meet the following three basic qualifications: hold
Senior Member grade at the time the nomination is submitted; be
an ‘active’ member (that is, dues must be current);
and must have completed five years of service in any grade of IEEE
membership. Note: IEEE affiliate membership within an IEEE society
does not apply.”
Recognizing the achievements of its members is an important part
of the mission of the IEEE. On behalf of the NPSS Fellows Evaluation
Committee, we urge you to consider making an IEEE Fellow nomination
this year!
Peter S. Winokur, Chair, NPSS Fellow Candidate Evaluation Committee,
can be reached at the National Nuclear Security Administration,
Washington, DC; Phone: +1 202 586-5480; E-mail: p.winokur@ieee.org.
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