Distinguished Scientist Award

Nominations must be received by October 3, 2014

Nominations are now being accepted for the Distinguished Scientist Award. Award candidates may be nominated by anyone who has been involved in hypervelocity impact science and engineering, not just Society members. The Distinguished Scientist Award will be presented at the Hypervelocity Impact Symposium to an individual or research team for significant and lasting contributions to the field of hypervelocity science. 

The award consists of a plaque citing the accomplishments of the award winner(s) and a monetary award of an amount set by the Society Board of Directors. The recipient(s) also becomes an Honorary Member of the Society, i.e., a lifetime member with all the privileges and responsibilities of a regular member except that dues are waived.

In preparing the letter of nomination, nominators should include supporting information about the candidate that should:

• Address the candidate’s technical recognition within the community
• Highlight the importance of their work and its contribution to hypervelocity science
• Describe the nominated individual’s personal contribution and service to the technical field of hypervelocity impact.

The Awards Committee would like to see the widest participation from the scientific community in nominating a Distinguished Scientist whose contributions reflect the talents of researchers around the world. Unsuccessful nominees from the two immediate prior symposia will automatically be considered for the award at the next symposium (e.g. unsuccessful nominees from the 2010 and 2012 symposia will be automatically considered for the award at the 2015 symposium).

Once a list of candidates is finalized, the Awards Committee goes through several rounds of voting to identify the winner. Past committees have used different approaches, but generally the criteria for selection include:

• Technical recognition
• Importance of work
• Scope of work 
• Current work 
• Service to the Hypervelocity Impact Society

The recipient for the Distinguished Scientist Award is selected three-to-six months prior to an upcoming symposium in order to give the recipient sufficient time to prepare an acceptance keynote speech. Once the award recipient has been determined, the Awards Committee Chair notifies the President of the Society. The President will obtain a concurrence from the Board and then notify the award recipient formally in writing.