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AAES recognizes six distinguished engineers

AAES recognizes six distinguished engineers

Top row, left to right: Siegfried S. Hecker, Ph.D., NAE; Karl W. Reid, Ed.D.; John R. Hall, P.E.

Bottom row, left to right: Anne S. Kiremidjian, Ph.D.; D. Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., P.E.; Catherine A. Leslie, P.E.


Reston, Va. – The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) will recognize six professionals for their considerable contributions to engineering at an awards banquet April 23, 2018 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

“These award winners have advanced the profession of engineering, and by doing so advanced the public good,” said Randy S. Over, P.E., AAES Chair. “It is an honor for AAES to highlight the excellent work each of these individuals is doing.”

The 2018 award recipients are as follows:

National Engineering Award — Siegfried S. Hecker, Ph.D., NAE, Research Professor Emeritus, Department of Management Science and Engineering, and Senior Fellow Emeritus, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, was selected for expanding our understanding of plutonium metallurgy, providing leadership in our stewardship of the nuclear stockpile, reducing nuclear proliferation through work with nuclear scientific and engineering communities globally, and cultivating broad understanding of complex technical security issues.

Kenneth Andrew Roe Award — Karl W. Reid, Ed.D., Executive Director, National Society of Black Engineers, was selected for his leadership as a founding member of the 50K Coalition, a unique collaborative of more than 40 organizations, including engineering societies, focused on a bold national goal to produce 50,000 diverse engineering graduates annually by 2025.

Norm Augustine Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Communications — John R. Hall, P.E., President, Ludovici & Orange Consulting Engineers, was selected for 40 years of working tirelessly at local, state, and national levels to inspire engineers to educate children about the wonders of engineering, and for over a decade of lobbying for integration of engineering into the K-12 curriculum.

John Fritz Medal — Anne S. Kiremidjian, Ph.D., Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, was selected for pioneering research in the field of probabilistic seismic risk assessment that led to her founding several companies related to seismic risk modeling and structural health monitoring, and for educating the next generation of earthquake engineers.

Joan Hodges Queneau Palladium Medal — D. Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., P.E., Distinguished Professor and Director, Clean Energy Research Center, University of South Florida, was selected for his multiple international leadership roles in promoting and moving clean renewable energy forward; having served as President of the International Solar Energy Society; and leading students, engineering environmentalists and corporate leaders on new journeys into solar energy and environmental stewardship.

AAES Chair’s Award — Catherine A. Leslie, P.E., Executive Director, Engineers Without Borders USA, was selected for successful leadership of Engineers Without Borders USA, that is fundamentally changing undergraduate engineering education, and as a result the future of the profession, by nurturing and expanding high quality service learning and leadership development opportunities for engineering students and professionals.

Nominations were submitted by AAES Member Societies and reviewed by the AAES Awards Committee, chaired by the immediate past chair of AAES. Visit https://www.aaes.org/awards to view the award descriptions and learn about past recipients.