| Last
year, there were only 9 nominations from NPSS for the grade of IEEE
Fellow. The average is 13, so by any standard last year’s
total was below par. For the record, in calendar years 1999 through
2006, the NPSS Fellows Evaluation Committee (FEC) evaluated 12,
11, 18, 13, 11, 12, 19, and 9 nominations, respectively. NPSS isn’t
guaranteed that a certain percentage of our nominations will be
elected to the grade of Fellow, but a rule of thumb is about 40%.
I’m pleased to report that 6 of the 9 NPSS nominees were elected
to the grade of IEEE Fellow in 2006. That’s 2/3, which is
really unheard of. I attribute our extraordinary success to superb
candidates and a very dedicated NPSS Fellow Evaluation Committee
(FEC). I want to thank the members of the FEC for all their efforts.
They are Victor Granatstein, Ron Huesman, Osamu Ishihara, Stan Schriber,
Jim Schwank, and Peter Turchi. It’s always challenging to
review these nominations. I hope you can make our job ever more
difficult by increasing the number of nominations in 2007.
“An 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 2007, the following NPSS members were
elected to the grade of IEEE Fellow: Richard Kouzes, Wim Leemans,
Warren Mori, Xiaochuan Pan, Ronald Pease, and Ned Sauthoff. 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. The NPSS FEC has experts from its
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?
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.”
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. 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’s 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 even 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. Nominating forms, detailed instructions,
and frequently asked questions can be found at the IEEE Fellow Program
Web Site at www.ieeee.org/fellows. Don’t wait to get started.
Each year, several nominations miss the deadline by only a few days.
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 Fellows Evaluation Committee,
can be reached at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Washington,
DC; Phone: +1 202 694-7090; E-mail: p.winokur@ieee.org.
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