SMPTE announces 2024 honourees

The honourees will be recognised at its annual Awards Gala, which takes place at the conclusion of the 2024 SMPTE Media Technology Summit on October 24. The Gala will take place in the Ray Dolby Ballroom within the Ovation Hollywood.

This year, 15 honours will be bestowed on 35 individuals and organisations.

Among these is the supreme accolade of the Society, Honorary Membership which will be conferred on three individuals.

Ioan Allen is recognised for his contributions to audio production and presentation technologies. SMPTE is recognising him for his innovations at Dolby Laboratories and involvement in SMPTE, AES, and ICTA that have fostered collaboration within the professional community, and have established new standards, including groundbreaking audio formats.

Franz Kraus is acknowledged for advancing the cinematography vision of the ARRI corporation. Kraus led the company into the digital age by developing digital film scanners and cameras, resulting in the ARRI Alexa camera suite becoming one of the most popular products in the entertainment industry today.

Victoria Alonso – formerly president of physical and post-production, visual effects, and animation at Marvel Studios - is also recognised for her contributions as a producer and entertainment industry leader. SMPTE said Alonso relentlessly communicates her story vision to artisans and technicians and is a strong and outspoken champion for under-represented groups in the entertainment industry.

The David Sarnoff Medal, sponsored by SRI International, will be awarded to John Mailhot in recognition of his role in promoting the adoption of the SMPTE ST 2110 standard for the carriage of media over IP, not just through SMPTE but also through industry organisations such as AMWA, AIMS, and the VSF.

The Excellence in Education Medal, sponsored by William C. Miller and Ellen Sontag-Miller, is awarded to Chaitanya Chinchlikar for his efforts, alongside Whistling Woods International – India’s premier Film & Creative Arts institute, to mainstream media and entertainment education in India and to incorporate emerging technologies into the curriculum, such as virtual production, cinematic VR, AI, and cloud computing.

The Workflow Systems Medal, sponsored by Leon D. Silverman, goes to Unreal Engine, in recognition of its contributions to media production and its role in enabling new options for creators.

The Digital Processing Medal will be presented to Dr. Jens-Rainer Ohm, in recognition of his leadership in the development of several widely successful MPEG and ITU video compression standards.

The Camera Origination and Imaging Medal will be conferred posthumously on Takashi Nakamura for the development of a practical video system comprising a high-frame-rate camera and video recorder with easy replay.

The James A. Lindner Archival Technology Medal, sponsored by Lindner, goes to Karen Cariani for her pioneering contributions to advancing technology, techniques, workflows, and infrastructure for preserving and providing access to the public broadcasting archives in the US.

The Excellence in Standards Award will be presented to Paul Treleaven, in recognition of his continuous efforts to ensure prompt dissemination of information within SMPTE to partner organisations and the general public.

The Louis F. Wolf Jr. Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to Gabriel Casselman of Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Citation for Outstanding Service to the Society will honour three individuals: Michael Frank Day, for his long-standing dedication to the betterment of the Society, especially the Australia, New Zealand, and Southern Pacific Islands Section; Chris Lapp, for his role as Membership Director and creator of the SMPTE Discord channel, enabling collaboration among students and young professionals worldwide; and Wes Simpson, for his many years of service to the SMPTE New York Section, and his assistance in the transition to virtual meetings.

The Journal Award for the best paper originally published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal during 2023 will be presented to Ievgen Kostiukevych, Mohamed Nabil Ibrahim, Pavlo Kondratenko, Thomas Kernen, and Thorsten Lohmar, for their paper, “Supporting Live Production Using Precision Time Protocol Over 5G Systems With Dedicated Time Synchronization Support.”

Additionally, Journal Certificates of Merit will be awarded to Erik Reinhard, Claire-Hélène Demarty, and Laurent Blonde for their paper, “Pixel Value Adjustment to Reduce the Energy Requirements of Display Devices,” as well as Tom Borer for his paper, “Why Holographic 3D Light Field Displays Are Impossible, and How to Build One Anyway.”

The Student Paper Award, recognising an outstanding paper prepared and submitted by a Student Member, will be presented to Irene Muñoz López of the University of Surrey, for her paper, “Camera Tracking Systems and their Democratisation.”

Ten new SMPTE Fellows will be recognised at this year’s Gala for attaining an outstanding rank among engineers or executives in media and entertainment: Naveed Aslam, Peter Brightwell, Alexander Forsythe, Michel Proulx, Brian Quandt, Pierre-Hughes Routhier, Alexandre Rouxel, Paola Sunna, Stuart C. Young, and Gene J. Zimmerman Jr.

David Grindle, SMPTE Executive Director, said: “This year’s SMPTE honourees have touched every corner of the industry from artificial intelligence to archiving. The strength of SMPTE lies within its members, and the annual awards gala is our chance to celebrate them.”