The Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (http://smpte.org), the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry, will honor 15 entertainment technology innovators from leading corporations and universities at a gala ceremony at SMPTE 2008: Annual Tech Conference & Expo (http://smpte2008.org). Five gold medal awards will be bestowed, including the prestigious Progress Medal, which will be given to Birney D. Dayton, chairman and chief technical officer of audio/visual technology company NVISION. Dayton designed numerous industry-changing, digital audio, standard and high definition products and technologies.
In addition, 10 industry leaders will also be named SMPTE Fellows. The 2008 Honors & Awards Ceremony and Reception will take place on Thursday, October 30, on the closing night of the conference and trade show, which is dedicated to content creation, management, distribution and display technologies. Emceeing the red carpet affair will be executive producer and television personality Robb Weller.
“Since 1934, SMPTE has honored a handful of professionals each year who have significantly advanced the entertainment technology industry,” said Kimberly Maki, SMPTE and SMPTE 2008 executive director. “Recipients are selected by an extensive review process conducted by fellow innovators and honored at the kind of red carpet event that Hollywood does best.”
The SMPTE 2008 Honors & Awards Ceremony and Reception is sponsored by Dalsa and Sony Electronics Inc.
GOLD MEDAL AWARD WINNERS
> The Progress Medal, which will be given to Dayton, recognizes outstanding contributions to the progress of motion picture and television engineering.
> The Eastman Kodak Gold Medal, honoring outstanding contributions that lead to new or unique educational programs utilizing motion pictures, television, or photography, will be bestowed upon David Master, founder of non-profit educational organization ACME Animation, for his innovations in distance learning for animators.
> The Technicolor/Hebert T. Kalmus Gold Medal, recognizing outstanding contributions to the development of color films, processing, techniques or equipment for making color motion pictures, will be given to Michael E. Ryan, film technology director for entertainment imaging at Eastman Kodak Company, for his contributions to the development of color negative film products and his pioneering work in electron sensitization technology.
> The Fuji Gold Medal for the design and development of techniques and equipment advancing photographic or electronic image origination will be bestowed on Dr. Albert Theuwissen, professor at Delft University of Technology and founder of Harvest Imaging, for his contributions to solid-state image sensing.
> The Samuel L. Warner Memorial Medal for design and development of methods and/or equipment for sound-on-film motion pictures will be given to Shawn F. Jones, chief engineer and chief technology officer of NT Audio, for his innovative work in optical negative recording and multi-format digital mastering.
FELLOWS
Members are elevated to fellows when, by proficiency and contributions, they have attained an outstanding rank among engineers or executives in the motion picture, television or related industries.
The following industry leaders will be named SMPTE Fellows: Merrick Ackermans, engineering technology fellow, Turner Broadcasting Systems; Jerry Butler, senior director interconnection projects, Public Broadcasting Service; Tze Cheong Fung, production director, Digital Magic Ltd.; Matthew S. Goldman, VP, Technology, TANDBERG Television; Al Kovalick, Avid fellow, Avid Technology; Lenny Lipton, CTO, Real D; John C. Miller, product technical specialist, Eastman Kodak Company; Ann Marie Rohaly, senior program manager, Microsoft, Inc.; Ernesto Santos, marketing & sales director, MOG Solutions; and J. Patrick Waddell, technical marketing manager, Harmonic Inc.
ADDITIONAL AWARD WINNERS
Five other awards and scholarships will be bestowed at the ceremony. They are:
> The Journal Award, to be given to Richard B. Wheeler, senior principal scientist and Nestor M. Rodriquez, senior technical associate, both at Eastman Kodak Company
> Journal Certificate of Merit, to be bestowed on Tomlinson Holman, professor, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts; Paul W. Jones, co-founder of Certifi Media Inc.; and Thomas O. Maier, research fellow, Entertainment Imaging Business Unit, Eastman Kodak Company
> Citation of Outstanding Service to the Society, to be given to Patricia Keighley, vice president/general manager, David Keighley Productions 70mm, Inc. and Harold L. Miller, retired, formerly of Technicolor
> Society Citation, to be given to Christopher Lennon, director, integration & standards, Harris Corporation and Stanley N. Baron, former managing director, television technology, NBC and former SMPTE President, 1995-1996
> Louis F. Wolf Jr. Memorial Scholarship, to be awarded to Jeremy Mark Littler, student at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Companies interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at SMPTE 2008 should contact Kimberly Maki, 914-761-1100 x4960.
About SMPTE 2008: Annual Tech Conference & Expo
SMPTE 2008: Annual Tech Conference & Expo takes place October 28 – 30, 2008 at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood, CA. It is preceded by the full-day symposium, Filmmaking and Live Event Broadcast, on October 27, 2008, at the same location. Produced by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry, SMPTE 2008 is created by entertainment technology professionals, for entertainment technology professionals. It features educational sessions and a hands-on show floor that highlight new and emerging media technologies of practical use to content creation, management, distribution and display professionals. Register at: (http://smpte2008.org/register).
About the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry. As an internationally recognized and accredited standards-setting body, SMPTE develops standards, recommended practices and guidelines and spearheads educational activities to advance engineering and moving imagery. Since its founding in 1916, the Society has established close to 600 standards, including the physical dimensions of 35mm film and the SMPTE time code. More recently, it codified the MXF file format to support the exchange of professional AV content and crafted the Digital Cinema Standards, which paved the way for digital movie theaters. Headquartered in New York, SMPTE is comprised of engineers and other technical specialists, IT and new media professionals, filmmakers, manufacturers, educators and consultants in more than 65 countries. They are joined at SMPTE by more than 200 sponsoring corporations, principal players in content creation, production and delivery for all platforms and in entertainment hardware and software. http://smpte.org
