IEEE Celebrates Innovators Shaping the Future

Every year, IEEE recognizes individual researchers, innovators, and collaborative teams whose technical achievements and leadership have made a lasting impact on technology, engineering, and society worldwide with its Technical Field Awards.

The honorees are selected by the IEEE Awards Board based on their extraordinary technical achievements, societal impact, and leadership in specialized engineering disciplines and are approved by the IEEE Board of Directors.

The 2027 IEEE Technical Field Award recipients embody the relentless spirit of innovation and ingenuity that defines our global community," said Mary Ellen Randall, 2026 IEEE president and CEO in a news release. Across microelectronics, artificial intelligence, medical robotics, wireless networks, energy conversion, and technical education, their groundbreaking accomplishments continue to push the boundaries of science and solve critical challenges for the benefit of humanity."

The recipients are:

IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award

Sponsors: IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, IEEE Circuits and Systems, and IEEE Signal Processing societies

IEEE Life Fellow Kullervo Hynynen

Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, and the University of Toronto

For pioneering contributions to the development, advancement, and clinical translation of therapeutic ultrasound."

IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award

Sponsor: The Brunetti Bequest

IEEE Member Edward Charles Gage

IEEE Fellow Ganping Ju

IEEE Fellow Jan-Ulrich Thiele

Seagate Technology in Cupertino, Calif.

For contributions to heat-assisted magnetic technology powering ultra-high-capacity hard disk drives and enabling greater storage of digital information."

IEEE Roger W. Brockett Control Systems Award

Sponsors: IEEE Control Systems Society and Friends and Family of Roger W. Brockett

IEEE Life Fellow Arjan van der Schaft

Bernoulli Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands (Retired)

For contributions to robust and geometric approaches to nonlinear control, hybrid systems, and the control of physical systems."

IEEE Electromagnetics Award

Sponsors: IEEE Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing, and IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology societies

IEEE Fellow Zoya Popovi

University of Colorado Boulder

For contributions to microwave and millimeter-wave circuit designs, including power amplifiers, power-combining, and wireless power systems."

IEEE James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award

Sponsor: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL)

IEEE Life Fellow Chin-Hui Lee

Georgia Tech

For contributions to and leadership in technologies that enable automatic speech and speaker recognition, including innovations in adaptive learning and discriminative training."

IEEE Fourier Award for Signal Processing

Sponsor: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL)

IEEE Fellow Nicholas Dimitrios Sidiropoulos

University of Virginia in Charlottesville

For contributions to signal processing methods for analyzing complex data and identifying patterns in multiple dimensions."

IEEE Andrew S. Grove Award

Sponsor: IEEE Electron Devices Society

IEEE Fellow John Robert Brews

University of Arizona in Tucson (Retired)

For foundational contributions to the physics and technology underlying MOS devices and circuits."

IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Technology Award

Sponsor: Sony Group Corporation

IEEE Honorary Member Mike Lazaridis

Quantum Valley Investments in Waterloo, Ont., Canada

For transformative contributions to mobile communication through visionary leadership that reshaped global consumer technology."

IEEE Internet Award

Sponsor: Google LLC

IEEE Fellow Matthew Roughan

Adelaide University in Australia

For foundational contributions to analyzing Internet traffic and network structures, enabling better network management and understanding."

IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann Award

Sponsor: IEEE Industry Applications Society

IEEE Fellow Akshay Kumar Rathore

National University of Singapore

For developing innovative current-fed and multilevel power electronics converters."

IEEE Joseph F. Keithley Award in Instrumentation and Measurement

Sponsors: Tektronix Inc. and the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society

IEEE Life Fellow Pasquale Daponte

University of Sannio in Benevento, Italy

For contributions to the measurement and standardization of analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters."

IEEE Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award

Sponsor: IEEE Circuits and Systems Society

IEEE Life Fellow Janusz Rajski

Siemens Digital Industries Software in Wilsonville, Ore.

For contributions to testing digital integrated circuits at the silicon level."

IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award

Sponsor: The IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Memorial Fund

IEEE Life Fellow Rama Chellappa

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore

For contributions to multi-disciplinary graduate education and mentoring of doctoral students in image processing, computer vision, and pattern recognition."

IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award

Sponsor: NEC Corporation

IEEE Member Amin Vahdat

Google in Mountain View, Calif.

For developing network systems that scale data centers to support modern cloud computing and machine learning."

IEEE Arun N. Netravali Video Analytics, Technology, and Systems Award

Sponsor: Nokia Bell Labs

IEEE Life Member Jens-Rainer Ohm

RWTH Aachen University in Germany (Professor Emeritus)

IEEE Life Fellow Gary J. Sullivan

Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco

IEEE Member Benjamin Bross

Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications Heinrich-Hertz-Institut in Berlin

For leadership in and contributions to developing the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) international standard, which improves the efficiency of digital video compression."

IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award

Sponsor: IEEE Power Electronics Society

IEEE Fellow Paolo Mattavelli

University of Padova in Padua, Italy

For contributions to advanced modeling and control of power electronics converters."

IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits

Sponsor: IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society

IEEE Life Fellow Wanda Kay Gass

Texas Instruments in Bellevue, Wash. (Retired)

For pioneering contributions to programmable digital signal processing systems through innovations in circuit design, system architecture, and silicon compilers."

IEEE Frederik Philips Award

Sponsor: The IEEE Frederik Philips Award Fund

Recipient: IEEE Member Ann B. Kelleher

Intel in Portland, Ore. (Retired)

For leading the historic advancement of CMOS process technology, culminating in the first node with backside power delivery."

IEEE Photonics Award

Sponsor: IEEE Photonics Society

IEEE Life Fellow Martin David Dawson

University of Strathclyde in Glasgow

For contributions to microstructured and wide-bandgap semiconductor optoelectronics and for leadership in technological innovation."

IEEE Robotics and Automation Award

Sponsor: IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

IEEE Life Fellow Russell H. Taylor

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore

For contributions to, leadership in, and the clinical translation of surgical and medical robotics."

IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award

Sponsor: IEEE Computational Intelligence Society

IEEE Life Fellow Shun-ichi Amari

Teikyo University in Tokyo

For foundational contributions to neural network theory and information geometry."

IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award

Sponsor: IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society

Victor Malka

Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel

For leadership in the development of laser-driven particle sources and advancing the technology toward practical applications."

IEEE Innovation in Societal Infrastructure Award

Sponsors: Hitachi, Ltd. and the IEEE Computer Society

IEEE Fellow Jaideep Vaidya

Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

IEEE Senior Member Lucila Ohno-Machado

Yale School of Medicine

IEEE Senior Member Xiaoqian Jiang

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

For leadership in designing and deploying privacy-preserving distributed clinical research infrastructures that enable secure, large-scale collaboration using health data."

IEEE Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award

Sponsor: IEEE Standards Association

IEEE Life Fellow Mehmet Ulema

Manhattan University in New York City (Professor Emeritus)

For leadership in the development and standardization of architecture, management, and protocols used in wireless communications and data networks."

IEEE Eric E. Sumner Award

Sponsor: Nokia Bell Labs

IEEE Fellow Gerhard Fettweis

Technische Universitat Dresden Barkhausen Institut in Germany

For contributions to physical-layer communication technology that have had an impact on the global wireless industry."

IEEE Nikola Tesla Award

Sponsors: Wolong Electric Group Co. Ltd. and the IEEE Industry Applications and IEEE Power & Energy societies

IEEE Life Fellow Pragasen Pillay

Concordia University in Montreal

For contributions to the modeling, design, and application of electric machines in industrial, transportation, and renewable energy applications."

IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award

Sponsors: The late Dr. Kiyo Tomiyasu and the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology societies

IEEE Fellow Yun Raymond Fu

Northeastern University in Boston

For contributions to computer vision and augmented human-machine interaction."

IEEE Transportation Technologies Award

Sponsors: IEEE Industry Applications, IEEE Industrial Electronics, IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology, IEEE Power Electronics, IEEE Power & Energy, and IEEE Vehicular Technology societies

IEEE Fellow Chunting Chris Mi

San Diego State University

For contributions to advancing electric and hybrid electric vehicle technologies."

IEEE Rao R. Tummala Electronics Packaging Award

Sponsors: IEEE Electronics Packaging Society and Friends of Rao R. Tummala

IEEE Fellow Ravi Mahajan

Intel in Chandler, Ariz.

For contributions to the development of technology that connects multiple chips within advanced electronic packages."

IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award

Sponsor: IEEE Education Society

IEEE Fellow Rhonda Rene Franklin

University of Minnesota in Minneapolis

For leadership in advancing inclusive workforce development initiatives that create clear and accessible career pathways via undergraduate engineering education."

IEEE Lotfi A. Zadeh Award for Emerging Technologies

Sponsor: IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society

IEEE Life Fellow Peng Shi

Adelaide University in Australia

For contributions to artificial intelligence-based methods for robust control and filtering in complex systems."

Nominate a colleague

Nominations are now open for the 2028 Technical Field Awards. The deadline to submit a nomination is 15 January.

For more information on the awards, please visit the IEEE Awards webpage.