Gordon Prize

Bernard M. Gordon Prize

The Bernard M. Gordon Prize was started in 2001 by the United States National Academy of Engineering. Its purpose is to recognize leaders in academia for the development of new educational approaches to engineering.^[1] Each year, the Gordon Prize awards $500,000 to the grantee, of which the recipient may personally use $250,000, and his or her institution receives $250,000 for the ongoing support of academic development.^[1] Although the Gordon Prize is relatively new, within engineering education, it is viewed by many to be the American equivalent of the Nobel Prize.^[2]

History

Upon earning a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, Mr. Gordon worked on the development of UNIVAC, the world’s first commercial digital computer. He subsequently co-founded EPSCO, Inc. where the original Datrac high-speed A/D converter was developed and applied to myriad pioneering digitizing and signal processing applications.^[3]

Considered the “father of high-speed solid-state analog to digital conversion” for his inventions and contributions to signal translation, medical tomography and other high-precision instrumentation, Bernard M. Gordon has more than 200 patents worldwide. Mr. Gordon is a founder of NeuroLogica Corporation, a neuroscience-based medical imaging company in Danvers, Massachusetts that focuses on conceiving, developing, manufacturing and marketing advanced medical imaging equipment. He founded Analogic Corporation and retired as Chairman of the Board. Prior to Analogic, he was the President and co-founder of Epsco, Incorporated.

In 1986, Mr. Gordon received the National Medal of Technology from President Ronald Reagan, and in 1991, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Mr. Gordon is the recipient of several honorary engineering doctoral degrees, is a Professor of Medical Engineering at MIT, endows the Bernard Marshall Gordon Professorship of Engineering Innovation and Practice at MIT, and is a founder of the Gordon Institute, a graduate-level institution dedicated to teaching engineering leadership.^[4]

Mr. Gordon was elected to the Tufts Board of Trustees in 1996 and currently serves on the Committee for University Advancement, the Audit Committee, and the Board of Overseers for the School of Engineering. In 1992, the Gordon Institute, which Mr. Gordon founded to develop and train promising engineers to become exceptional engineering leaders, became affiliated with Tufts University. It has since become one of the university’s signature programs.

Selection criteria

• The nominee's ability to develop educational paradigms that create and develop engineering leadership skills and attitudes. Among the contemporary areas needing emphasis are: communication skills; teamwork skills; “hands-on” experience; innovative capacity; inventiveness and “drive”; ability to share, access, and interpret large volumes of information; and an interdisciplinary focus.
• Demonstrated impact on the above-cited emphasis areas and the transferability of the innovation. Additional criteria can include demonstrated effect on prior students (proportion of students pursuing careers in industry, active engagement in elective student design opportunities, pursuit of advanced engineering education, etc.), student evaluation of relevant courses, and peer recognition of the uniqueness of the new teaching approach.
• Significant impact within the institution and/or replication at other institutions.
• Emphasis on project success.
• Success in producing engineering leaders - nominators should identify individuals who have benefited from the innovation, including their past and present positions.
• The potential of the nominee(s) to utilize the recognition and resources conferred by the prize to enhance and extend the innovative approach, including (but not limited to) replication of the innovation within other academic settings.

Recipients

• 2011 Edward Crawley from MIT for cofounding the CDIO initiative, by innovating and rethinking engineering education. CDIO currently has over 50 collaborators worldwide.
• 2009 Thomas H. Byers and Tina Seelig for pioneering, continually developing, and tirelessly disseminating technology entrepreneurship education resources for engineering students and educators around the world. (STVP Program at Stanford University)
• 2008 Jacquelyn F. Sullivan and Lawrence E. Carlson for the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program that infuses hands-on learning throughout K-16 engineering education to motivate and prepare tomorrow's engineering leaders.
• 2007 Arthur W. Winston, Harold S. Goldberg, and Jerome E. Levy for innovation in engineering and technology education. They were founders and lecturers at the Gordon Institute during its early years.
• 2006 Jens E. Jorgensen, John S. Lamancusa, Lueny Morell, Allen L. Soyster, and Jose Zayas-Castro, for creating the Learning Factory, where multidisciplinary student teams develop engineering leadership skills by working with industry to solve real-world problems.
• 2005 Edward J. Coyle, Leah H. Jamieson and William C. Oakes for innovations in the education of tomorrow's engineering leaders by developing and disseminating the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program.
• 2004 Frank S. Barnes for pioneering an Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (ITP) that produces leaders who bridge engineering, social sciences, and public policy.
• 2002: Eli Fromm for innovation that combines technical, societal, and experiential learning into an integrated undergraduate engineering curriculum.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Gordon Prize information". http://www.nae.edu/nae/awardscom.nsf/weblinks/DWHT-4UJPVA?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2006-12-12. 
2. ^ William A. Wulf and George M.C. Fisher "A Makeover for Engineering Education" Issues in Science & Technology Spring 2002 p. 35-39.
3. ^ "Tufts University trusties". http://www.tufts.edu/trustees/info/gordon.shtml. Retrieved 2006-12-12. 
4. ^ "Electronic Design article". http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?AD=1&ArticleID=2852. Retrieved 2006-12-12. 

External links

• Official Site of the Gordon Prize
• Bio for Dr. Eli Fromm, 2002 Gordon Prize Recipient
• Bio for Dr. Frank Barnes, 2004 Gordon Prize Recipient