The AUVSI Foundation seeks to acknowledge and award outstanding individuals working to advance the unmanned systems industry. To that end, the annual tradition continued in Denver, CO on August 26, 2010 as five distinguished individuals were recognized for their contributions to the unmanned systems industry. Prior to the conference, AUVSI members from around the world submitted numerous nominations in five award categories: Outstanding Contributor Award, Member of the Year Award, Operations Award, Pioneer Award and new in 2010, the Academic Champion Award. Descriptions of the five awards and a listing of current and past winners can be found below.
Outstanding Contributor Award
This award recognizes an AUVSI member who plays a pivotal role in the advancement of unmanned vehicle systems through promoting innovative ideas, creating new concepts, directing programs or being directly involved in unmanned vehicle systems development and operation. The recipient should be a leader in his/her industry and be dedicated to the promotion of unmanned technologies.
Past winners of the Outstanding Contributor award are:
2010 RADM William E. Shannon, USN PEO(U&W)
2009 Robert A. K. Mitchell, Northrop Grumman
2008 Dr. Robin Murphy
2007 Eduardo Yakin
2006 Dr. Scott Fish
2005 Kyle Swanson
2004 Colonel Janice M. Morrow
2003 Nicholas Yorio
2002 Richard Alldredge
2001 CAPT Lyn Whitmer
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Pioneer Award
This award distinguishes an AUVSI member or nonmember whose innovative ideas and ground-breaking research have contributed to the development of outstanding unmanned systems. The recipient’s dedication to the advancement of unmanned systems is evident through his/her perseverance from the initial concept and design, through advanced testing and production, to the final delivery phase.
Past winners of the Pioneer Award are:
2010 Frank Pace, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
2009 David Weiler, CDL Systems
2008 Douglas Thorp and the Close Range UAS Team - NAVAIR PMA-263
2007 Allen Nease
2006 Helen Greiner
2005 Scott Myers
2004 Dr. Dominic J. Palumbo and Helmut Portmann
2003 Dr. Clint Kelly
2002 Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr.
2001 Colonel Lynch
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Member of the Year Award
This award recognizes an exceptionally dedicated AUVSI member who has made a significant contribution to the goals and objectives of AUVSI. Whether through industry innovation or member recruitment, the recipient has demonstrated his/her commitment to advancing unmanned systems through the promotion of AUVSI's programs and member services in support of the unmanned systems community.
Past winners of the Member of the Year award are:
2010 Joe Gibbs, Northwest UAV Propulsion Systems/AUVSI Cascades Chapter
2009 Jim Curry, Bowhead Support Systems
2008 Dr. William Agnew
2007 Joe Brannan
2006 Marvin Gay, posthumous
2005 Dr. Jon Bornstein
2004 Bernard Theisen
2003 Robert Glomb
2002 LCDR Dave Seagle, USN
2001 David Lanman
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Operations Award
This award distinguishes an AUVSI member or nonmember directly involved in the testing, evaluation and/or operational deployment of unmanned systems. Through directing operations for test programs or mission accomplishments and maintenance, the recipient should have an expertise in unmanned systems hardware such as vehicles, propulsion systems, guidance/control, electro-optics and launch and support equipment.
Past winners of the Operations award are:
2010 MSGT Donny Nickle, USAF, US Air Forces Special Operations Command
2009 LCDR Daniel Imbat, USN
2008 Brent Cobleigh
2007 CW3 James Harris
2006 Col Edward Ward
2005 Cliff Hudson
2004 Major Kirk McCauley
2003 Kenneth Sharp
2002 Capt. Scott Swanson
2001 Timothy Owings
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Academic Champion Award (New in 2010)
The Academic Champion Award honors an individual or institution whose activities encourage students’ interests in the area of robotics and provides them with opportunities for hands-on experience developing robotic technology.
2010 Dr. Arthur Reyes, University of Texas at Arlington (awarded posthumously)