The IEC has presented its Thomas A. Edison Award to five individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the IEC. Created in 2010, the Award recognizes exceptional achievement, dedicated service and significant contributions to the IEC by officers in IEC technical committees and subcommittees as well as officers of the IEC Conformity Assessment Systems.

This year's winners are:

• Ulrike Haltrich, Chair SyC AAL
• Jae Yeong Park, Secretary TC 124
• Franco Rusnati, Chair SC 34C
• Eiichi Zaima, Secretary TC 122
• Wynn Bowman, IECQ Treasurer

The awards were announced officially on 22 October during the IEC General Meeting.

Ulrike Haltrich

Ulrike Haltrich is the Chair of the IEC Systems Committee for Active Assisted Living, SyC AAL, which she has led since its formation in 2015. She will be succeeded by Ma Dejun in December 2023.

Ulrike Haltrich played a major role as one of the founding experts of the IEC SyC AAL, building up the committee from the previous standard evaluation group, through her exceptional engagement and proactivity. The Systems Committee concept was new at the time and she successfully organized SyC AAL into six working groups and one maintenance team with a diverse group of committee members many of which were new to the standards development process. Under her leadership, IEC SyC AAL has published eight specifications and currently has fourteen projects in its work programme, addressing important topics which support the needs of the AAL population. In addition to her work as Chair, Ulrike serves as a project leader in use case development and AI ethics.

Ulrike Haltrich also chairs IEC Technical Committee 100, which prepares standards for audio, video and multimedia systems, since 2019.

Jae Yeong Park

Jae Yeong Park is the Secretary of IEC TC 124, which develops standards for wearable electronic devices and technologies. Since the TC's formation in 2017, he has shown tremendous dedication to push forward the work of its experts and promote its standardization activities.

He has notably developed several joint working groups with TC 124 both inside and outside the IEC. This includes IEC TC 62, which prepares standards focusing on the safety and performance of medical equipment, software and systems and ISO/TC 38 which develops standards for textiles.

He has also been working as a key expert inside TC 47, where he established a working group on energy conversion and transfer. IEC TC 47 prepares standards for semiconductor devices.

Jae Yeong Park received the IEC 1906 award in 2006.

Franco Rusnati

Franco Rusnati is the Chair of Subcommittee 34C: Auxiliaries for lamps. His collaborative efforts have been instrumental in advancing and finalizing complex topics in IEC TC 34: Lighting, such as insulation coordination, photobiological safety of light sources and luminaires, and assessment of electromagnetic fields for luminaires.

He has also made significant contributions to the preparation of the first two IEC commented versions (CMV) of standards for TC 34. He has been a driving force in the application of IEC Standards in the lighting industry, as demonstrated by his extensive involvement in numerous subcommittees, working groups, and mirror committees.

Franco Rusnati is a recipient of the IEC 1906 award on two separate occasions.

Eiichi Zaima

Dr. Eiichi Zaima has served as the Secretary of IEC TC 122: UHV AC transmission systems, for more than nine years since its establishment in 2013. He is a founding member of the TC which he has been striving to promote. He was notably instrumental in the development of key standards for the alternating current (AC) transmission of ultra-high voltage (UHV) electricity, which is key for enabling long-distance and high-capacity networks.

He helped to establish the four working groups inside the TC and led efforts to produce eight publications. His technical knowledge and management skills helped him lead the working group activities, get consensus in TC 122 and establish strong cooperative liaison relationships with many other technical committees.

Wynn Bowman

Wynn Bowman has been a member of the IECQ (the IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components) executive leadership for the last seven years and has been involved as an expert with IECQ for the last 25 years.

He is one of the original architects of IECQ's first conformity assessment service dedicated to environmental protection, the IECQ Hazardous Substance Process Management (HSPM) Scheme, which started in 2005, as the internationally accepted means of demonstrating compliance with national and regional regulations that govern the control of hazardous substances in the electronics manufacturing supply chain.

At the end of 2022, he completed 3 terms as IECQ Treasurer during which his financial management and leadership skills ensured that IECQ maintained solid financial stability while enabling investments in new and innovative services.

(Source: IEC)