| A
couple of years ago, the Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS)
Administrative Committee made two changes to the NPSS Society Awards
process. These changes were: (1) beginning in 2008, the deadline
date for nominations has been moved from May 15 to January 31 and
(2) nominations will be limited to 10 pages in length.
The first change was made to allow the Awards Committee to make
its selections by the end of March in a given calendar year. Awardees
would then be able to receive their awards and be recognized at
the conference of their choosing in the same year that the selection
is made. For example, if the winner of the 2008 Merit Award attends
the Radiation Effects Conference, he/she could then be recognized
at the Nuclear & Space Radiation Effects Conference held in
July, 2008.
The second change in the Society Awards process limits applications
to 10 pages. Simply put, applications have become unwieldy and frequently
exceed 30 pages. Some are as long as 80 pages! The awards committee
believes that 10 pages are more than adequate to support a nomination.
I have been involved in awards selection throughout my career and
I’m certain that the length of a nomination does not correlate
with its chances of success.
At its March 1, 2008 meeting, AdCom voted to increase the monetary
value of NPSS Society-level awards as follows: Merit Award, from
$2000 to $4000; Richard F. Shea Distinguished Member, from $2000
to $4000; Early Achievement, from $1800 to $3000, and Graduate Scholarship
(4), from $2000 to $3000. These new monetary levels need to be approved
by the IEEE Technical Activities Board at its summer or fall meeting.
There’s a good chance the higher levels will be in effect
for the 2009 NPSS Society Awards. Descriptions and nomination forms
for these awards can be found at http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/nps/awards.htm.
In addition to Society awards, there are Technical Committee Awards
that are listed below. The most accurate description of these awards
can be found either at the above website or on NPSS conference web
sites. A listing of all Technical Committee Awards follows.
1. Computer Applications in Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Award;
2. Radiation Effects Award;
3. Radiation Instrumentation Early Career Award;
4. Radiation Instrumentation Outstanding Achievements Award;
5. Fusion Technology Award;
6. Particle Accelerator Science and Technology Award;
7. Plasma Science and Applications Award;
8. Edward J. Hoffman Medical Imaging Scientist Award;
9. Young Investigator Medical Imaging Science Award;
10. Erwin Marx Award;
11. Peter Haas Pulsed Power Award;
12. Arthur H. Guenther Pulsed Power Student Award; and
13. Best Student Paper Awards.
In addition to Society and Technical Committee Awards, NPSS Sponsored
Conferences that have Short Courses solicit nominations for Paul
Phelps Continuing Education Grants. These grants are intended either
for tuition in NPSS Sponsored Short Courses, or for partial or total
travel expenses to attend NPSS Short Courses. These grants are available
for outstanding Student Members of NPSS and unemployed members of
NPSS who need assistance in changing career directions. Each conference
appoints a chairman to handle Phelps travel grants. So, once again,
please consult the conference website.
Finally, the NPSS is pursuing the establishment of an IEEE Technical
Field Award, which is an Institute level award. NPSS is proposing
the IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award for outstanding contributions
to the field of Nuclear and Plasma Sciences. The recipient will
receive a US $10,000 honorarium, a bronze medal, and a certificate.
In the event that a team or multiple recipients are selected, the
honorarium will be equally divided among the recipients. Each recipient
will receive a bronze medal and a certificate. The process of establishing
the award is quite detailed and time intensive. I am hopeful the
award can be established this year. The first presentation of the
award would be in 2010.
I’d like to thank this year’s NPSS Awards Committee
for their hard work. They are Igor Alexeff, Hal Flescher, Steve
Gitomer, and Bill Moses. We had a great set of nominations for the
2008 awards. Please keep these nominations coming!
Beginning in 2009, Bill Moses will serve as the NPSS Awards chairman.
Bill can be reached at wwmoses@lbl.gov.
Peter S. Winokur, Chair, NPSS Awards 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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