USNC Announces Don Heirman Award Program: Students and Young Professionals Paper Competition

The U.S. National Committee (USNC) to the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) has launched a new award competition for students and young professionals: The USNC Don Heirman Award Program gives students and young professionals the opportunity to compete in an annual paper competition on the topic of Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) for a $1,000 cash prize! The USNC is a fully integrated committee of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

The USNC encourages all eligible students and young professionals to submit a paper addressing this year’s theme: How does EMC impact our daily lives?

All entries must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 7, 2024, to [email protected], and must adhere to the following requirements:

• Answer the prompt, “How does EMC impact our daily lives?”
• Be written and submitted by a student (enrolled full- or part-time in associate, undergraduate, or graduate programs during the period of September 2023 to June 2024 in U.S. higher education institutions) or a young professional (8 years related experience or less)
• Be fewer than 2,000 words
• Submitted electronically in English, 12-point font

Submissions will be reviewed by the selection panel, including EMC experts and USNC staff. All entries will receive a certificate from ANSI recognizing the submission of the paper.

The winning entrant, to be announced on June 28, 2024, will receive a cash prize of $1,000, a certificate, publication of their article in the USNC Current, and recognition on the USNC webpage.

The award honors the legacy of Don Heirman, one of the most prominent experts in the field of EMC. Heirman chaired the international Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR) of the IEC and was also chairman of the IEC Advisory Committee on EMC (ACEC). He was a life member of the Technical Management Committee (TMC) of the USNC, as well as a key contributor to ANSI and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In November 2008, he was presented with the prestigious IEC Lord Kelvin award at the IEC General Meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil, recognizing his many contributions to global electrotechnical standardization in the field of EMC. In 2017, Heirman was awarded ANSI's Elihu Thomson Electrotechnology Medal, which honors an individual who has contributed in an exceptional, dedicated way to the field of electrotechnology standardization, conformity assessment, and related activities at the national and international levels.

Learn more on the USNC Young & Emerging Professionals webpage.