IEC announces Edison Award winners

In recognition of their outstanding contributions to the IEC, six technical experts in the IEC community have been awarded the prestigious Thomas A. Edison Award.

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:

• Nadine Bravais, Chair TC 23

• Heiko Englert, Secretary TC 57

• Joseph Harding, Secretary TC 116

• Hans-Gerd Kaiser, Chair SC 34D

• Peter Thurnherr, Chair IECeEx ExSFC

• Shigeru Tomita, Secretary SC 86B

The awards were announced officially today during the IEC General Meeting held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Nadine Bravais

Nadine Bravais has served as Chair of IEC TC 23, Electrical accessories, since May 2016.

She has been responsible for setting up active collaboration in the field of smart buildings with a number of other TCs such as TC 72 for automatic electric controls, and TC 34 for lighting, that resulted in a joint advisory group.

She has also made a significant contribution to the development of standards for energy management systems (HBES/BACS) and switches and socket outlets, combining her deep technical knowledge with her extensive experience in standardization.

Nadine Bravais actively promotes the SDGs in her standardization work and provides visibility to women, working to improve gender equality and women empowerment within working groups and the standards themselves.

Heiko Englert

Heiko Englert has been the Secretary of IEC TC 57, Power systems management and associated information exchange for over 15 years. His efforts have been instrumental in driving the evolution of smart grid standards since 2010, spearheading the introduction of innovative concepts such as data models, as well as digital twins in smart grids. He championed the establishment of a database for the IEC 61850 series of standards for communication networks and systems for power utility automation which enabled swifter development of new standards and easier maintenance of existing ones.

He has made significant contributions to strategic standardization, notably through the creation of the "Smart Grid Architecture Model" (SGAM), which stands as the premier architecture model for system standardization in smart grids. SGAM has since found applications beyond its original scope, influencing other technical committees and systems such as Industry 4.0 and Smart Home.

Joseph Harding

Joseph Harding has served as the Secretary of IEC TC 116 Safety of motor-operated electric tools since 2011.

His electrical engineering and overall technical background along with the understanding of the products in the power tool industry has helped enormously during the drafting process of the IEC standards to issue high-quality product safety standards in a timely manner. Under his tenure of office more than 40 new IEC standards have been successfully published by TC 116.

Joseph Harding has been actively involved in a number of working groups and ad hoc groups as well as facilitating the involvement of regional standards organizations such as CENELEC, ANSI, UL and CSA to ensure joint adoption of the standards.

Hans-Gerd Kaiser

Hans-Gerd Kaiser has been Chair of IEC SC 34D, Luminaires, since 2019 and a valued member of IEC TC 34 Lighting, its subcommittees and many of its working groups since 1997. Within SC 34D, Hans-Gerd has also taken on a key leadership role as Convenor of the working group for Lumex.

His significant expertise and contributions have been instrumental in the development of the 10th edition of IEC 60598-1 Luminaires - General requirements and tests which was published this year.

In addition to his contributions within the IEC, Hans-Gerd is an outstanding ambassador for standardization and promotes the understanding and application of standards in national and European professional associations. He has led numerous CENELEC projects for the direct adoption of IEC SC 34D standards in Europe.

In addition, Hans-Gerd generously passes on his knowledge and experience by actively guiding the next generation of engineers and standardization experts.

Peter Thurnherr

Peter Thurnherr is the Chair of the IECEx Certified Services Scheme Committee (IECEx ExSFC). For more than 30 years he has also been an active expert within IEC TC 31 Equipment for explosive atmospheres for which he is convenor of various TC 31 and SC31J working groups and maintenance teams, notably that of MT 60079-14 covering safety of Ex installations. Peter is also a long standing member of the IECEx Executive, and previously completed two terms (six years) as Chair of the IECEx Personnel Certification Committee (IECEx ExPCC).

Peter Thurnherr has participated in numerous international conferences, representing IEC Standardization and Conformity Assessment, including the 2024 IECEx International Hydrogen Conference, held in Singapore as a partnered event with ISO, IRENA, UNECE, Hydrogen Council.

He is also a previous recipient of the IEC 1906 award.

Shigeru Tomita

Shigeru Tomita has served as the Secretary of IEC SC 86B, Fibre optic interconnecting devices and passive components, for nearly nine years, during which he has led the development of 79 standards and 19 supplemental publications, as well as advising on the development of many others.

This includes five IEC standards related to multi-fibre push-on (MPO) connectors, contributing greatly to faster data processing in data centers

He also collaborated closely with ITU committees such as ITU-T SG 15, which covers similar technical areas to SC 86B, resulting in technical harmonization of related standards from both organizations.

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