The EurAgEng Award of Merit
This award is the highest honour that the Society bestows. It will be made to a leading individual for their major contribution to the success of engineering for agriculture and the rural sector in Europe. It is expected that the winner will, in general, be a leading light in the industry, have strong associations with industry and/or will have made a contribution to engineering innovation that has been widely recognised by governmental or other organisations.
The award will be presented at the AgEng conferences sponsored by the Society. These conferences are currently biennial, but the Society will consider seeking nominations and making an award in intermediate years if there is an appropriate EurAgEng conference planned. If no suitable nomination is received then the Award of Merit will not be made.
Nominations can be made of any person who is associated with agricultural/rural engineering. Their contribution will be judged in terms of the impact of the engineering products, services or innovation with which they have had a strong association and played a leading role. The winner will receive a trophy and a certificate. The Society will publicise the Award winner widely and include an article in the newsletter to encourage the next generation of engineers to aspire to similar success.
An Awards Committee of the Society will be appointed to consider all nominations received by the EurAgEng secretariat by noon on a specified date generally six months in advance of the conference. A proforma for nominations will be available on the EurAgEng website in advance of this deadline. The winner will be informed in advance of the conference and invited to attend the awards ceremony.
Award of Merit 2008
Following the success of the first Award of Merit in Bonn in 2006,we are pleased to announce that nominations for next year’s award, to be presented at AgEng2008 in Crete, will be sought formally in January 2008. This award is designed to celebrate the lifetime achievements of an individual in the agricultural engineering industry and was awarded last year to Ray Clay, from JCB for his innovative work on the JCB Fastrac.
Award of Merit winner Ray Clay (right) with Prof Bill Day (left) the outgoing EurAgEng President, and Prof Aad Jongebreur (centre) the incoming EurAgEng President.
Do you work for an inspirational leader? Do you know an innovative Agricultural Engineer? All members of EurAgEng or National Societies may nominate an individual by completing the Nomination Form and returning it to the Secretariat. It is not too early to start considering worthy candidates now and all nominations must be received by the Secretariat by 14 March 2008, when they will be assessed by the Awards Committee. The winner will be invited to attend AgEng2008 in Crete on 23-25th June where he/she will be presented with a bronze statuette to mark their achievement. The Secretariat hopes to hear from you soon!