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SBE Chooses National Award Winners

Luff is broadcast engineer of the year

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced the winners of its 2009–2010 National Awards.

Winners will be recognized at the Society’s National Awards Dinner on Oct. 27 in Madison, Wis. The event is part of the annual SBE National Meeting, which is being held in conjunction with the Wisconsin Broadcasters Clinic, sponsored by Chapter 24 Madison and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, held at the Marriott Madison West Hotel.

SBE President Vinny Lopez said “SBE is honored to recognize these great engineers and society chapters for demonstrating excellence in broadcast engineering and portraying qualities indicative of our membership. We look forward to celebrating their achievements at the 2010 National meeting.”

John Luff is the winner of the 2009–2010 SBE Broadcast Engineer of the Year. SBE peers nominated Luff, an SBE member since 1984, for the work he has done in the broadcast engineering industry as well as on a local level with SBE Chapter 20 in Pittsburgh. Luff is a media technology consultant and has his own company, HD Consulting in Sewickley, Pa. He’s also chairman of SBE Chapter 20.

Recipients of the SBE Broadcast Engineer of the Year Award are recognized for making significant contributions to the field of broadcast engineering and/or for furthering the goals and objectives of the society. They must be SBE members and are nominated by their peers.

The 2009–2010 SBE Educator of the Year Award will be presented to Charles “Buc” Fitch, P.E., CPBE, AMD. Fitch was nominated for his 40-year-plus contributions to educating the industry through articles, presentations and mentoring work, not only in mainstream technical areas of broadcasting but also important adjacent technologies such as NEC, project management and collateral regulations. Fitch is a long-time Radio World columnist (see article).

The award for Best Technical Article, Book or Program by an SBE Member goes to Doug Irwin, CPBE, AMD, DRB for his article, “The Future of Radio” which appeared in “Radio” magazine in December 2009.

Local SBE chapters have also earned awards based on their own achievements. Some categories recognize two chapters, based on their size. Class A represents those chapters whose membership is less than the national median while Class B are those chapters that have membership greater than the national median.

  • Best Chapter Website: Chapter 54 – Hampton Roads, Va.;
  • Best Regional Conference: Chapter 24 – Madison, Wis.;
  • Best Chapter Newsletter: Chapter 24 – Madison, Wis.;
  • Most Certified Chapter: A) Chapter 140 – Ithaca, N.Y.;
  • Most Certified Chapter: B) Chapter 131 – Inland Empire, Calif.;
  • Greatest Percentage Growth: A) Chapter 136 – Rio Grande, Texas;
  • Greatest Percentage Growth: B) Chapter 144 – Hong Kong;
  • Highest Member Attendance: A) Chapter 143 – Mid-MO, Columbia, Mo.;
  • Highest Member Attendance: B) Chapter 76 – Eugene, Ore.

The SBE thanked its National Awards Committee, chaired by board member Jim Leifer, CPBE, and committee members Leonard Charles, CPBE, Bill Ryall and Marcelo Sanchez, CPBE, for their work in determining the winners from this year’s nominations.

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