Awards Presented by the CSA

The Robert W. Vance Award was established to honor persons for their dedication and long-term commitment to the advancement of CSA.  It is the first award ever given by the Society.

Honorees have been:

• Robert W. Vance (deceased)
• Dr. Ray Radebaugh, NIST Boulder
• Romuald Szara, University of Chicago (retired)
• Dr. John Weisend II, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
• James Missig, Teratech Cryogenic Systems, Inc.
• J. Patrick Kelley, Los Alamos National Laboratory

The Roger W. Boom Award is named in honor of the emeritus professor from the University of Wisconsin.  Dr. Boom's career spanned more than thirty years during which he motivated a large number of young scientists and engineers to pursue careers in cryogenic engineering and applied superconductivity.

This award was created by the CSA to be given to a young professional (under 40 years of age) who "shows promise for making significant contributions to the fields of cryogenic engineering and applied superconductivity."  The candidate must be no older than 40 years of age and be employed full-time by a US organization involved in cryogenic engineering or applied superconductivity.  The spirit of the R.W. Boom Award is to recognize young people for their pursuit of excellence, demonstration of high standards and clear communications.

Nominations are currently open for this award.  Click here for more information.

The award is usually given every even-numbered year, coinciding with the Applied Superconductivity Conference.

Dr. Jeffrey Parrell
2006 Recipient of the R.W. Boom Award

The R.W. Boom Award committee of CSA announces the selection of Dr. Jeffrey Parrell of Oxford Instruments Superconductivity in Carteret, New Jersey, to be the recipient of the 2006 Award.  The committee selected Dr. Parrell for his outstanding record of accomplishment in the development of composite Nb3Sn conductors for high field magnet applications such as high energy physics particle accelerators, magnetic fusion and NMR spectrometers.  His selection for the award is particularly appropriate as throughout his career, Roger Boom always placed high value on advancing superconductor technology.

Dr. Parrell received his PhD in Material Science from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1996.  Since 1997 he has been employed at Oxford Instruments Superconductivity first as a High Tc Engineer and more recently since 2000 as Program Manager for Nb3Sn development.

The R.W. Boom Award was created by CSA to recognize young professionals who "show promise for making significant contributions to the fields of cryogenic engineering and applied superconductivity".  Dr. Parrell represents a clear example of the caliber of individual worthy of this distinguished award.

Past recipients are:

• Dr. Christopher M. Rey, Dupont Superconductivity (now at Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
• Prof. Justin Schwartz, NHMFL
• Dr. Chao Wang, Cryomech, Inc.
• Dr. Franz J. Baudenbacher, Vanderbilt University
• Dr. Terry L. Grimm, Accelerator R&D Division,
  National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab, Michigan State University
  (now at Niowave, Inc.)

Fellows of the Cryogenic Society of America are persons of distinction in cryogenics, and shall have made notable valuable contributions to the field of cryogenics.  Such contributions need not be in research, however they must be of significant magnitude so as to justify the honor of Fellow.  Non-research examples include but are not limited to:

• founding a company whose products and/or services have materially contributed to advances in the field
• serving as a consultant of nationally and internationally recognized competence in a particular area of cryogenics
• furthering advances in national and international cryogenics through programmatic efforts including materially contributing to the development of, and serving on technology boards or groups which represent and influence significant areas of cryogenic technology such as cryocoolers, high magnetic field research, space cryogenics, biomedical cryogenics, etc.

In addition, the nominee must have demonstrated loyalty to, and support for the growth of CSA through continuing active participation in the Society's activities, either in the local chapters, or nationally through involvement in short courses, program committees, etc.

Nominees should be senior members of the cryogenics community, having been active in the field for 15 years or more.  They must currently be CSA members in good standing and must meet the following CSA membership criterion:

• continuous membership for the previous three years
• Three letters of recommendation are required, preferably written by CSA members, however letters from other nationally or internationally recognized notable contributors in the field will be accepted at the discretion of the Fellow Grade Committee.  The persons writing the letters must have personal knowledge of the nominee's qualifications and experience.  The letters should:
  • briefly outline the nominee's qualifications,
  • explain why the honor of Fellow should be conferred, and
  • must attest to the nominee's professional integrity and character.
  The requirement for submittal of letters of recommendation may be waived by unanimous decision of the Fellow Grade Committee, in instances where the nominee is extremely well known in the community.

Nomination forms are due to the Executive Director of CSA by June 1 of each year; letters of recommendation are due by July 1 of each year.  The Executive Director of CSA will forwarded the nomination forms and letters to the chairman of the Fellow Grade Committee within 5 days after the deadline.  The Fellow Grade Committee reviews nominees from the membership and makes recommendations to the CSA Board of Directors, which makes the final selections no later than August 31.  An 80% majority vote of the Committee shall be required for recommendation to the CSA Board.  It is entirely possible that no new Fellows will be selected in any given year.  Newly elected Fellows receive a certificate and plaque and are honored at the CEC Banquet following election of the nominee.

Chair, Fellow Grade Committee: Louis J. Salerno

Committee Members:

• Peter Kittel
• Pat Kelley
• Joel Fuerst
• Ray Radebaugh
• John Brisson (alternate)

Fellows to date are:

• Dr. Traugott Frederking, UCLA (deceased)
• Dr. Peter Kittel, NASA Ames
• Dr. Rao Ganni, Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory
• Dr. Klaus Timmerhaus, University of Colorado
• Dr. Steven W. Van Sciver, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Cryogenic Society of America Technical Awards

The Cryogenic Society of America offers the following awards to recognize significant achievement in particular areas of cryogenics:

• Award for Excellence in Cryogenic Research
  This award is given for research contributions in a particular area leading to a major scientific advance in the cryogenic field, i.e, discoveries of applicable new properties of materials, development of theoretical models explaining or predicting the behavior of fluids, materials, or systems at cryogenic temperatures, research focused on sub-atomic particle physics in the cryogenic regime, etc.  The applicant must have had at least one paper relevant to the contribution published in a peer-reviewed venue.
• Award for Excellence in Cryogenic Engineering
  This award is given for notable engineering development in a particular area leading to a major contribution in the cryogenic field, i.e, markedly increasing cryocooler efficiency, developing a novel cryogenic system for fusion applications, improving biomedicine by using cryogenics, etc.  The applicant must have had at least one paper relevant to the contribution published in a peer-reviewed venue.
• Award for Excellence in Cryogenic Operations and Support
  This award is given for excellence in establishing, improving, or simplifying processes in cryogenic operations from small-scale to large-scale facilities or for excellence in the development or implementation of techniques involving the fabrication, joining, assembly, wiring, checkout, and/or operation of cryogenic systems, from laboratory research apparatus to large-scale commercial machinery.  Official recognition of the excellence by the applicant's employer, customer, or other peers is a condition of granting the award.

General Criteria applicable to all Awards:

• Nominees should be members of the cryogenics community, having been active in the field for 5 years or more.  They must currently be CSA members in good standing and must have been CSA members continuously for the previous three years.  (Nominees for the Cryogenic Operations and Support Award need not be CSA members).
• Two letters of recommendation are required, preferably written by CSA members, however letters from other nationally or internationally recognized notable contributors in the field will be accepted at the discretion of the Awards Committee.  The letters of recommendation must come from persons outside of the candidate's institution.  The persons writing the letters must have personal knowledge of the nominee's qualifications and experience.  The letters should:
  • briefly outline the nominee's qualifications
  • explain why the award is merited
  • attest to the nominee's professional integrity and character

Nomination forms are due to the Executive Director of CSA by June 1 of each year.  The Executive Director of CSA will forward the nomination forms to the Board, and the Board shall make the final determination.  A 75% majority vote shall be required for the award to be given.  Recipients receive a certificate and are honored at the CEC Banquet following election of the nominee.

Technical Awards have not yet been made.