The International William J. Conroy Standards Professional Award

The International William J. Conroy Standards Professional Award recognizes an individual from the technical community who has shown exceptional leadership in the development or implementation of Product Data Exchange standards.

The Award was established by the U.S. Product Data Association (US PRO) Board of Directors in honor of Bill Conroy. Bill provided notable leadership to the standards community throughout a professional career that included serving as Chairman of the IGES/PDES Organization, Director for the National Initiative for Product Data Exchange, and Chairman of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (US TAG) for ISO TC184/SC4.

As US PRO ended its many years of work to develop and support the product data standards needed by industry in the U.S., its Board of Directors chose to pass the responsibility of running the competition for the Conroy Award to PDES, Inc. They felt that the international basis of PDES, Inc. membership and its long-standing participation in the ISO 10303 standards community gave that group a good foundation for evaluating the importance of individuals’ contributions to development of STEP standards. The Board also felt that PDES, Inc. could be impartial in selecting a winner from among the many nominations that are generated by each competition.

The Award is traditionally presented once each year at an ISO TC184/SC4 meeting held in the United States. The International William J. Conroy Standards Professional Award for 2008 will be presented at the March 2008 meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. Note that the recipient must be present at this meeting to accept the award.  Please follow the guidance provided below to prepare and submit your nomination.

Nominations must include all of the following information:

1. Nominee: name, present position, business address, telephone, e-mail, and FAX
2. A one-to-two page description of the nominee's recent contributions and accomplishments related to the standards community (Hint: address the selection criteria provided below)
3. Nominator: name, title, organization, address, telephone, e-mail, and FAX
4. Contact information for the appropriate P-Member representative or Head of Delegation for the country represented by the nominee: name, title, organization, address, telephone, e-mail, and FAX

Nominations should be submitted using one of the following methods:

E-mail to: Conroy Award Committee
FAX to: +1 (843) 207-6115
Regular mail to: PDES, Inc.
                        5300 International Blvd.
                        North Charleston, SC 29418
                        USA

* The nomination period closed on February 19, 2008 *

Criteria for selecting the winning candidate include:

• Leadership - Provided clear project management or technical leadership critical to the success of standards development and/or projects
• Broad Influence and Contribution to Standards Development - Influenced either national or worldwide acceptance of the results (either standards development or deployment)
• Contribution - Recognized as a key contributor to the success of standards by national and worldwide peers
• Technical Expertise - Recognized as a key technical leader in a standards area or role by national and worldwide peers and management
• Longevity - Worked in the standards area for a sustained period of time (greater than 2 years)
• Commitment/Dedication - Invested significant time and energy into the successful completion of standards activities; worked vigorously to resolve technical or other issues to move the standards work ahead
• Project Management - Demonstrated excellent project management skills in managing critical standards activities and/or projects
• Peer Recognition - Recognized by national and worldwide peers and management as critical to the success of standard projects and/or documents

Past Winners of the International William J. Conroy Standards Professional Award are:

1997    Ms. Mary Mitchell, National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA)
1998    Mr. Terry Sieveking, The Boeing Company (USA)
1998    Mr. Greg Paul, Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems (USA)
1999    Mr. Nigel Shaw, Eurostep, Ltd. (United Kingdom)
1999    Mr. Juergen Morhmann, debis Systemhaus GmbH (Germany)
2000    Mr. Larry McKee, IBM (USA)
2000    Mr. Jim Mays, NAVSEA (USA)
2001    Mr. Yoshiaki Ishikawa, Ishilawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Japan)
2002    Ms. Carol Tierney, General Dynamics Land Systems (USA)
2003    Mr. Ricardo Goncalves, UNINOVA (Portugal)
2003    Mr. Mark Palmer, National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA)
2004    Mr. Ray Goult, LMR Systems (United Kingdom)   
2005    Mr. Burton Gischner, Electric Boat Corporation (USA)
2005    Ms. Maria José Nuñez Ariño, AIDIMA Instituto Tecnologico (Spain)
2006    Mr. Keith A. Hunten, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company (USA)
2007    Dr. Gerald M. Radack, Concurrent Technologies Corporation (USA)