Ohio Man to Receive National Engineering Award in Cincinnati

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- James A. Watson, who has given more than 1,900 presentations to over 90,000 IEEE members worldwide, will next week receive IEEE-USA's highest honor, the Robert S. Walleigh Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award.

Watson will be presented the award during the IEEE-USA Annual Meeting at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza on 5 May. He is being recognized "for more than 40 years of leadership in promoting professional development of IEEE members."

In addition to the professional members he has reached, more than 50,000 student members have heard Watson speak at student-organized events such as IEEE-USA Student Professional Awareness Conferences (SPAC).

Vishnu Pandey, who chairs the SPAC committee, wrote in his nomination letter supporting Watson that the Mansfield, Ohio, resident's "advice has been invaluable to all committee members, and his guidance has improved our ability to communicate with students greatly."

Robert S. Walleigh, an IEEE-member electrical engineer, worked for the National Bureau of Standards – now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – for more than 35 years. He supervised the building of NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., and retired as a senior adviser for international affairs in 1979. For the next 18 years, he worked as an IEEE-USA senior specialist.

Watson, an IEEE Third Millennium Medal recipient, is collaborating with colleague Charles Alexander on a textbook, "Engineering Skills for Career Success." The book, slated for publication in January 2013, will focus on the importance of communication and other non-technical skills for engineers.

Alexander, ironically, will receive the Jim Watson Student Professional Awareness Achievement Award "for long-term contributions to advancing professional awareness among IEEE student members."

Watson and Alexander are among 20 individuals IEEE-USA will recognize for their professionalism and technical achievements, as well as literary contributions to public awareness and understanding of the engineering profession in the United States.

IEEE-USA awards are approved by the organization's board of directors. The nomination deadline for 2012 awards is 31 July. For additional information, go to www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/committees/awards.

For the additional IEEE-USA award winners, see http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2012/042712.asp.

IEEE-USA advances the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of 210,000 engineering, computing and technology professionals who are U.S. members of IEEE. For information on the benefits of IEEE membership, see http://www.ieee.org/join.

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SOURCE IEEE-USA