IEEE Awards Booklet - 2012 - 23

I E E E

T E C H N I C A L

F I E L D

AWA R D S

2012 IEEE
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award

2012 IEEE
Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award

Sponsored by the IEEE Nuclear
and Plasma Sciences Society

Sponsored by the IEEE Standards
Association

Gennady Mesyats

Daleep C. Mohla

For founding the field of nanosecond pulsed power
and for seminal contributions to the physics of vacuum
breakdown at high power levels

For contributions to the preparation, dissemination, and
advocacy of consensus safety standards for operation and
maintenance of industrial and commercial power systems

Considered one of the world's leading researchers on pulsed
power, vacuum, and gas discharges, Gennady Mesyats' pioneering work in Russia helped establish nanosecond pulsed power
technology as a new engineering discipline. Dr. Mesyats' contributions began in 1957 when he constructed a nanosecond
rise-time high-voltage pulse generator. He discovered the phenomenon of explosive electron emission (EEE) in 1967. Important
in explaining and predicting current switching in a vacuum
discharge, this phenomenon makes it possible to produce
pulsed electron currents of almost infinite magnitude. His
research group then developed the first high-current nanosecond pulsed electron accelerator using an EEE diode. His work
on volumetric gas discharges led to new types of high-power
pulsed gas lasers. Dr. Mesyats is the director of the Lebedev
Physics Institute within the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Moscow and serves as the Academy's vice president.

Daleep C. Mohla's dedication to developing safer equipment
and promoting safety standards has helped reduce the number
of electrical-related accidents in the workplace over the past
25 years. With experience designing and constructing the
electrical infrastructure of petrochemical facilities while with
Union Carbide from 1976 to 2001, Mr. Mohla employed his
"safety by design" concepts, examining each infrastructure
design aspect to maximize safety, resulting in many innovations. To spread his safety concepts, he became very involved
in the standards field, assisting in creating new standards and
modifying existing ones. During the 1990s, he served as chair
of the Electrical Functional Team of the Process Industry
Practices group, convincing industrial entities to share electrical safety designs. An IEEE Fellow, Mr. Mohla is currently a
principal consultant with DCM Electrical Consulting Services,
Inc., Missouri City, Texas.

2012 IEEE
Eric E. Sumner Award
Sponsored by Bell Labs

Jack H. Winters and Andreas F. Molisch
For contributions to the theory and application of multiple-antenna systems in
wireless communications
The individual and joint efforts of Jack H. Winters and Andreas
F. Molisch have shaped multiple-antenna technology from the
first smart antenna algorithms to recent contributions to 3G
and 4G wireless standards. Multiple-input and multiple-output
(MIMO) antenna technology has increased the reliability and
spectral efficiency in practically all modern cellular communications systems. Dr. Winters pioneered the use of smart antennas
for multipath communications with his breakthrough work in
1984. His optimal combining method is widely used in multiple-antenna receivers. In 1987, Dr. Winters was the first to
demonstrate spatial multiplexing using multiple antennas in
wireless systems for increased channel capacity. Dr. Molisch is
one the world's leading experts on properties of MIMO
channels. His work on double-directional propagation channels
in 2001 forms the basis for practically every standardized
channel model used for MIMO systems. Much of Dr. Molisch's
work has found its way into popular international standards

such as IEEE 802.11n and 3GPP-LTE Advanced. Working
together at AT&T Laboratories-Research, in 2001 the duo
developed the cooperative multipoint concept for MIMO
systems to address adjacent-cell interference problems. This
approach allows base stations to share information and act as
a larger MIMO system that is able to suppress adjacent-cell
interference, resulting in dramatically increased capacity. It has
become an important research area in wireless communications and is impacting the next generation of cellular phone
technology.
An IEEE Fellow, Dr. Winters is currently a managing member
of Jack Winters Communications, LLC, Middletown, N.J. An
IEEE Fellow, Dr. Molisch is currently a full professor at the
University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Awards Booklet - 2012