The Society of Broadcast Engineers says that chapters are the lifeblood of the association. This year marks the fifth year that the Chapter Engineer of the Year Award, which has highlighted the achievements of select members within their chapters.

In 2018 six chapters selected their own award recipients. Each winner is to be presented with a special certificate and be recognized nationally on the SBE website and in a future issue of The Signal. The six chapter winners also were automatically nominated for the national Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year Award. The 2018 national winner, Mark Persons, represented Chapter 17 as its Chapter Engineer of the Year Award winner.

The 2017 Broadcasters Clinic in Wisconsin won for Best Chapter Regional Educational Event.

Chapter 16, Seattle, won for Best Chapter Communication.

Rob Sobol of Hilights won the award for Best Technical Article, Book or Program by an SBE member for “NOC, NOC. Who’s There?” in AGL Magazine.

Many awards were given for chapter member numbers and accomplishments.

Greatest Growth in New Members:

Class A: Chapter 57, Rochester, N.Y., Chapter Chairman Gregory Carter, CBT, CBNT

Class B: Chapter 118, Montgomery, Ala., Chapter Chairman Wiely Boswell, CBRE, CBNE

Most Certified Member Chapters:

Class A: Chapter 115, Southern Idaho, Chapter Chairman Thomas Kettwig, CBT

Class B: Chapter 131, Inland Empire [California], Chapter Chairman Wayne Murphy, CPBE, CBNE, and Certification Chairman Paul Claxton, CPBE, CBNE

Highest Member Attendance:

Class A: Chapter 145, Magic Valley [Idaho], Chapter Chairman Thomas Lowther, CSRTE, CBNT

Class B: Chapter 79, Austin, Texas, Chapter Chairman Ed Rupp, CBTE, CBNT

Note that class awards are determined using the median chapter size as of Dec. 31, 2017, as the dividing line between Class A (fewer than the median) and Class B (more than the median).

Nominations for the 2019 awards will open in February.

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INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has named Steve Brown as the 2017 Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year. Also, Tony Peterle has been chosen as the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year. Both are considered to be the society’s highest individual awards and were announced in a press release alongside other national and chapter awards.

All will recognized during the SBE National Awards Dinner on Oct. 26 at the SBE National Meeting in Denver, held in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Audio/Video Expo.

Brown is recognized for excellence in his 40-year career while furthering the mission of the SBE. Contributions include serving as SBE Chapter 17 chairman and a former member of the SBE National Board of Directors. His career began in 1977 as an engineer at WWTC in the Twin Cities, and Brown was one of the first engineers to utilize a helicopter to make relative field measurements of pattern of a FM radio station. He lives in Robbinsdale, Minn., and recently retired — this time for good; he “retired” in 2004 to serve as a contract engineer, during which time he was involved in building more than 20 HD Radio stations.

Peterle, CPBE, is is recognized for outstanding service and excellence in sharing knowledge through teaching other broadcast engineers. In his day job, he is the technical support manager at WorldCast Systems. He is credited with training engineers about SNMP through SBE University, Ennes workshops and SBE webinars. Peterle began in radio in 1975, reporting traffic in Honolulu and Seattle, and migrated to the broadcast engineering side when he was in Wichita and Kansas City, Kan. He now lives in Miami and is a member of Chapter 53.

Additionally, John Payne and Vislink have been awarded the 2017 SBE Technology Award for spearheading the launch of Newsnet, a wireless ecosystem that establishes a bi-directional IP network for ENG use. Newsnet establishes a high-speed and reliable bi-directional IP network utilizing 2 GHz BAS licensed spectrum, thereby increasing the number of live ENG transmissions and workflows that can now be performed from the field.

James Dalke, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, CBNT, has been recognized with the award for the Best Technical Article, Book or Program by an SBE Member. His 2017 NAB Broadcast Engineering & Information Technology Conference presentation on “Using Satellite VSATs for Broadcast STL” earned him the honor.

The 2016 Ohio Broadcast Engineering Conference has won for Best Chapter Regional Educational Event.

CHAPTER AWARDS

Several awards annually recognize chapters for growth in membership, percentage of certified members and highest average attendance at meetings, based on statistics submitted by chapters to the national office. Each category is broken into two based on chapter size. Class A represents chapters whose membership is less than the national median, while Class B includes chapters with membership greater than the national median.

GREATEST GROWTH IN NEW MEMBERS

• A — Chapter 111, Huntsville, Ala.: Chapter Chairman Kevin Kidd, CSRE, AMD
• B — Chapter 68, Birmingham, Ala.: Chapter Chairman Tim Costley

MOST CERTIFIED CHAPTER

• A — Chapter 72, New Orleans: Chapter Chairman Ernest Kain; Certification Chairman Ernie Harvey, CPBE, 8-VSB, CBNT

• B — Chapter 118, Montgomery, Ala.: Chapter Chairman Wiely Boswell, CBRE, CBNE; Certification Chairman Charlie Grider, CBRE, CBNT

HIGHEST AVERAGE MEMBER ATTENDANCE

• A — Chapter 112, Western, Wis.: Chapter Chairman Todd Zschernitz, CBTE

• B — Chapter 79, Austin, Texas: Chapter Chairman Ed Rupp, CBTE, CBNT

Nominations for the 2018 awards will open in February.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Broadcast Engineers have announced the recipients of the 2015 SBE National Awards, recognizing excellence and achievement by individual members, SBE Chapters and Sustaining Member companies.

Roswell D. Clark

The Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year award, one of the highest individual awards, was presented to Roswell D. Clark, CPBE, CBNT, from Clearwater, Fla. Clark serves as treasurer for SBE Chapter 39 in Tampa, Fla. Clark is a 30-year veteran of the broadcast industry, currently working as the director of technical operations for Cox Media Group. The group of nominees for this award were selected by their individual Chapters as their Chapter Engineer of the Year. Eight others were nominated with Clark and will receive a special certificate and recognized on SBE’s website and in The Signal.

Clark’s Chapter in Tampa also was the winner of the SBE’s other major individual award, the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year award, which recognizes outstanding service and excellence in sharing knowledge through teaching other broadcast engineers. Chapter 39 was recognized for its annual day-long technical training seminar it has held every year since 2009. The 2015 Symposium is scheduled for Nov. 12.

BlackMagic Design was awarded the 2015 SBE Technology Award for its 12G-SDI. The Best Technical Article, Book or Program award went to Tom C. Smith of Sun Prairie, Wis., for his The Signal article, “Look at TV Repack Scenario.”

Here were the winners for the Chapter Awards:

Best Chapter Website and Best Social Media Site:
Chapter 80, Fox Valley, Wis.

Best Chapter Newsletter (tie):
Chapter 24, Madison, Wis., and Chapter 70, Cleveland

Best Regional Convention or Conference:
Chapter 24, Madison, Wis., 2014 Broadcasters Clinic

Greatest Growth in New Members:
A: Chapter 111, Huntsville, Ala.
B: Chapter 45, Charlotte, N.C.

Most Certified Chapter:
A: Chapter 118, Montgomery, Ala.
B: (tie) Chapter 24, Madison, Wis.; Chapter 131, Inland Empire, Calif.

Highest Average Member Attendance:
A: Chapter 85, Central Western, Okla.
B: Chapter 34, Albuquerque, N.M.

The awards will be presented during the SBE National Awards Dinner on Oct. 14, at the SBE National Meeting in Madison, Wis. Nominations for the 2016 Awards will open in February.