INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced the recipients of the 2016 SBE National Awards.

Michael Hendrickson, CPBE, CBNT, of Lakeville, Minn., won the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year award.

Mike Hendrickson

Hendrickson’s recognition comes from his success in furthering the mission of the SBE. Hendrickson (shown at right) is a former SBE Chapter 17 chair and is currently a member of the National Board of Directors. With a broadcast engineering career that’s spanned more than 35 years, his work has been responsible for the upgrade of Minnesota Public Radio stations and several stations in Florida and a creation of an early database in the 1980s containing entries of most of the 950 MHz aural studio/transmitter link assignments.

Cheryl Lustenberger, CBNT, CTO, of Chapter 11 in Boston, has been honored as the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year. Her award is for outstanding service and excellence in teaching other broadcast engineers. She is the assistant manager at the Tufte Television Facilities at Emerson College, where she teaches broadcast engineering students. In addition to providing personalized workshops for her students, she also teaches professional workshops on safety, rigging and technology.

SBE’s newest honor, the Freedom Award, has gone to Norman Portillo, CBT, CTO, who is also the 2014 winner of the Educator of the Year award. Portillo (left) continues to educate the military community and has established a new chapter of SBE at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Blackmagic Design has won the 2016 SBE Technology Award for its URSA Studio Viewfinder.

Several chapter awards have also been announced. The awards are classified into two categories, “A” for chapters whose membership is less than the national median, and “B” for chapters with a membership greater than the national median (listed here in A-B order). They are:

Greatest Growth in New Members

• Chapter 96, Rockford, Ill. (Chairman Ben Pflederer)
• Chapter 7, Jacksonville, Fla. (Chairman Craig Butler, CSRTE)

Most Certified Chapter

• Chapter 118: Montgomery, Ala. (Chapter Chairman Wiely Boswell, CBRE, CBNE; Certification Chairman, Charlie Grider, CBRE, CBNT)
• Chapter 131: Inland Empire, Calif. (Chapter Chairman, Wayne Murphy, CPBE, CBNE; Certification Chairman, Paul Claxton, CPBE, CBNE)

Highest Average Member Attendance

• Chapter 145: Magic Valley, Idaho (Chapter Chairman Thomas Lowther, CSRTE, CBNT)
• Chapter 34: Albuquerque, N.M. (Chapter Chairman William Harris, CPBE, AMD, CBNT)

The winner for SBE’s Best Chapter Communication is Chapter 24 of Madison, Wis. and the winners of the Best Regional Convention or Conference are the SBE Chapters of Wisconsin and the 2015 Broadcasters Clinic.

The awards will be presented during the SBE National Awards Dinner on Oct. 27 at the SBE National Meeting in Columbus, Ohio.