The Excellence in Standards Award Recipients

2022
Alan Lambshead
In recognition of his dedication to improving the standards process during his tenure as SMPTE Standards Vice-President from 2014 to 2018. He led efforts to align SMPTE editorial standards with international best practices, create and revise administrative practices to document ad hoc committee procedures, and improve the Standards Operations Manual. Lambshead strengthened the role of SMPTE in IP networking and audio through close liaison with industry peer groups, thereby furthering the reach of the Society.

2021
Pierre-Anthony Lemieux
In recognition of his long-standing participation and leadership in the Standards Community, focusing on his ability to balance detail and process. Lemieux’s contributions include Technology Committee chair and significant work on the Standards Community’s Administrative Practices. His technical expertise has aided in restructuring SMPTE’s Metadata Registers, the transition to the Knowledge Network, and modernization of working practices. The Interoperable Master Format (IMF) and subtitling are among Lemieux’s notable contributions. His external activities have ensured that SMPTE is visible in organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium and the IMF User Group.

2020
John F. Snow
In recognition of his long-standing participation and leadership in the SMPTE Standards Community. Snow has made significant contributions to a wide range of activities, always in his own style. Snow is a consistent and essential voice of reason in a process often fraught with conflict and emotion. Not inclined to shy away from potentially controversial topics, Snow manages to bring measured logic to discussions, particularly in his role as Chair of the Networks and Facilities Technology Committee. Snow is a most valued member of the standards community; his quiet, unassuming attitude and dedication to the Society truly makes a difference.

2019
Paul Gardiner
In recognition of his long and outstanding service to the Standards Community. Gardiner has either chaired or contributed to the work of many of the Society’s Technology Committees (TCs), and his ability to shepherd documents through the standards process is unparalleled. An active participant in other standards bodies, Gardiner’s broad knowledge of technology, procedures, and global activities along with his pragmatic, common-sense approach to problem-solving has helped foster the Society’s outstanding reputation in the standards community. As a mentor to many new TC chairs including the current Standards Vice President, Gardiner is a worthy recipient of this year’s award.

2018
S. Merrill Weiss
In recognition of more than four decades of participation and more than three decades of leadership in the development of SMPTE's standards. Weiss has served in the Society's Standards Community continuously for over 40 years and has led many of the Society's most important standards efforts, including the development of the component digital video production standards, the Archive eXchange Format (AXF) standards, and the underlying framework on which today's digital video workflows are based. In addition to his technical contributions, Weiss is a SMPTE Fellow and has mentored many SMPTE Technology Committee (TC) participants who later made significant contributions to the Society's work. He has written extensively about SMPTE's standards efforts, explaining their value and utility to working engineers and practitioners throughout the industry. 

2017
Johann Safar 
In recognition of his continuous participation in SMPTE’s standards work for more than 30 years. Safar has contributed to the development of countless standards related to the compression and formatting of multimedia content for storage on analog and digital media, as well as the development of Time Code, ancillary data formatting and mapping. He is a careful reviewer of SMPTE standards, with a focus on ensuring harmonization and compatibility of interrelated standards across multiple technology committees. Safar’s dedicated performance in the SMPTE Standards Community has resulted in a high quality of professional standards documents.

2016
David Bancroft 
In recognition of his long-standing involvement in SMPTE standards for almost 40 years. Mr. Bancroft served as SMPTE Technology Committee Chair, he has chaired several SMPTE standards project groups and made technical contributions to many SMPTE standards development efforts. He continues to participate in SMPTE standards efforts and he is active in the United Kingdom SMPTE Section. Mr. Bancroft has been a frequent contributor of technical articles to the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal, and a presenter at SMPTE conferences.

2015
Bruce Devlin 
For his leadership in the development of the Material eXchange Format (MXF) standard, and many of the supporting standards for MXF. Mr. Devlin chaired the SMPTE MXF Design and Standardization Group, and since the publication of the MXF standard in 2004, has been active in updating the core documents and developing new MXF-related standards.   He continues to be active in SMPTE standards, currently chairing the ST 377-2 drafting group (KLV Encoded Extension Syntax for MXF) and the ST 380 (MXF Descriptive Metadata Scheme-1) revision group, as well as actively participating in the integer/fractional frame rates study group, the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) Sample Material Interchange group, the Timecode in MXF Study Group, and the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) in MXF project. 

J. Patrick Waddell
For his two decades of involvement in SMPTE standards. Waddell’s participation is broad, encompassing virtually every Technology Committee. He is a universally active participant in the standards community and is often the first volunteer to help with new efforts or to assist in whatever capacity is needed, whether this be as Chair, Secretary, Document Editor, or any other role requiring assistance.  He currently serves as the Secretary of TC 32NF (Network/Facilities Architecture), and chairs the 32NF-80 Working Group on Time Labeling and Synchronization.  He also chairs the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) in MXF project.

2014
John Hudson
For his sustained efforts in the development, and evolution of standards relating to real-time electrical and optical streaming media interfaces for video and D-Cinema production.  Mr. Hudson authored the SMPTE 3Gb/s SDI standard in parallel with his work developing the necessary components, resulting in a rapid and successful adoption of the interface by the industry, and is a key player in the development of 6Gb/s and 12Gb/s UHDTV SDI interfaces.  John’s SMPTE work is characterized by commitment and competence, combined with an attitude of cooperation and collegial relations with colleagues and competitors.

2013
John Hurst
For his sustained efforts in D-Cinema standards and interoperability efforts for which he consistently provides objective evaluation of the technical/business trade-offs to arrive at the most cost-effective solutions with rigorous attention to technical detail in ensuring the accurate interrelationship of SMPTE's D-Cinema standards.

2012
Bob Edge
Bob Edge has made major contributions in SMPTE engineering activities for many years.  As a committee chair and active participant, he has been a leader in the development of standards for file formats and file-based workflows. For his continuous and proactive commitment to the development and improvement to SMPTE’s engineering standards and practices, Bob Edge is awarded our society's Excellence in Standards Award for 2012.

2011
Michael A. Dolan
Michael Dolan plays a leading role in SMPTE engineering activities in the field of traditional broadcasting as well as broadband and emerging technologies. For his continuous and proactive commitment to the development and improvement of our Society's practices, its history, and SMPTE's engineering standards, Michael Dolan is awarded the Excellence in Standards Award for 2011.

2010
Thomas A. Scott
For his steady and pragmatic guidance in standards participation, his outstanding leadership in the roles of Engineering Director and Editorial Director, and for his conference participation, all of which are aimed at the continued promulgation of SMPTE standards and materials.

2009
Peter Dare
For his continuous, active participation in SMPTE’s standards work for over 40 years.  Mr. Dare has authored countless standards related to the compression, encryption, and formatting of audio-visual content for the purposes of storage on analog and digital tape and carriage across serial interfaces, for ultimate presentation in standard-definition, high-definition, and digital cinema.   He is a careful reviewer of every SMPTE standard, often playing devil’s advocate to ensure all aspects are considered from content production to equipment playout.  Mr. Dare has chaired numerous Ad Hoc and Study Groups, as well as a Technology Committee on Networks.  He has become a proficient disciple of SMPTE process and his guidance is sought by others on navigating the rigorous standardization steps.  Mr. Dare’s dedicated performance in the SMPTE Standards Community has resulted in a high quality of professional publications.