The third annual Golden Gnome Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 2023, at IPC SummerCom. The awards recognize the outstanding and creative work of IPC A-Teams, dedicated groups of volunteers within IPC standards working groups who take on a significant amount of work on behalf of their groups. A highly sought-after award, each Golden Gnome Award trophy is created using one of IPC’s resident 3D printers and then hand-painted by an IPC staff liaison.
“The Golden Gnome Awards dinner is a unique and creative way to honor our A-Team members,” said Teresa Rowe, IPC senior director, assembly and standards technology, “and the celebration gets more exciting and elaborate every year. We added new awards this year and provided a red-carpet entry and Golden Gnome photo op for attendees, giving everyone a chance to celebrate their gnome enthusiasm.” A gallery of photos from the event can be found on IPC’s Flickr page.
The 2023 Golden Gnome Award winners are:
- A-Team Name of the Year Award – Looks Like a Hangover
This award, which is selected by a vote of the IPC Committee Chair Council, goes to the A-Team with the most creative name.
- Best Visual Effects Artist – Robert Cooke, NASA Johnson Space Center
This award goes to an A-Team member who has provided significant support to the development of graphics for their team’s standard. Support can include drawing illustrations or securing images for the standard. Open to all A-Team members, this award can be won more than once.
- Designer Top Contributor Award –The Creeps
This award recognizes an A-Team or an individual from an A-Team for outstanding design-related contributions to IPC standards development.
- Emerging Engineer Award – Tyler Siebert, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control
This award is presented to one emerging engineer A-Team member who has shown a high level of active participation on one or more A-Teams.
- Editor of the Year Award – Scott Meyer, Collins Aerospace
This award recognizes outstanding work in editing documents as part of the A-Team.
- Globetrotter Award – Tiberiu Baranyi, Flextronics Romania SRL; Michael Schleicher, Semikron Elektronik GmbH Co. KG
This award recognizes A-Team members who have demonstrated leadership and initiative in working with individuals and teams from outside their country for the benefit of their A-Team.
- Gnoble Gnome Award – Jim Blanche, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (posthumous)
This award recognizes the lifetime or long-term achievement of A-Team members who have demonstrated dedicated A-Team participation or leadership over multiple years and/or have shaped the way A-Teams work in developing IPC standards.
- Gnome’s Choice Award – Randy Bremner, Northrop Grumman
This award goes to the favorite A-Team member in attendance at IPC SummerCom selected by IPC SummerCom attendees through Roman Ballot. Open to all A-Team members, it can be won more than once.
- Gnome Spirit Award – Joe Geiger, Bally Ribbon Mills; Milea Kammer, Honeywell International
This award is presented to A-Team members who have exemplified through their A-Team activity the spirit of being an A-Team member.
- Gnometastic Award – Christina Rutherford, Honeywell Aerospace
This award goes to a volunteer who is an active participant on the most A-Teams. Staff liaisons will verify active participation on each roster. Open to all A-Team members, it can be won more than once.
- Guardianome Award – Symon Franklin, Custom Interconnect Ltd.; Garry McGuire, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
This award goes to the A-Team member who went over and beyond in helping to prepare a proposed standard for ballot during the eligibility period. This person will have provided a staff liaison with special support in the preparation of proposed standard for ballot documentation. Open to all A-Team members, this award can be won more than once.
- High-Five Award – Michael Ford, Aegis Software UK; Symon Franklin, Custom Interconnect Ltd.; Jan Pedersen, NCAB Group AB; Ekaterina Stees, Lockheed Martin-Missiles & Fire Control; Debbie Wade, Advanced Rework Technology
These awards go to the five A-Team members who posted the most original content to IPC Works during the eligibility period. This award is open to all A-Team members and can be won more than once.
- Innovator Gnome – 5-26a A-Team
This award recognizes the creative or innovative activity of an A-Team member that led to a new standard or significant change to an existing standard. Open to all A-Team members, this award can be won more than once.
- IPC Works Leaderboard Award – Tiberiu Baranyi, Flextronics Romania SRL wins this award for the second year in a row.
This award recognizes A-Team members with the most activity on IPC Works, IPC’s standards development community’s collaboration, and networking intranet.
- Outstanding A-Team Member of the Year – Tim Pearson, Collins Aerospace
This award is presented to an A-Team member who has gone above and beyond in their A-Team participation.
- Rookie of the Year – Xu Liu, Apple
This award goes to one new A-Team member during an eligibility period, who has made provided significant support to their A-Team. This award goes to an individual who became an A-Team member for the first time during the eligibility period. This award can only be won once.
- Worker Bees of the Year Award — The Terminators
This award is presented to A-Teams that have shown the most activity in IPC Works in the development of their standard.
For more information on IPC’s Golden Gnome Awards, contact Teresa Rowe, IPC senior director of assembly and standards technology, at TeresaRowe@ipc.org. For industry members interested in joining an IPC standards development committee and charting a path to their own Golden Gnome Award, visit www.ipc.org/ipc-standards.
About IPC
IPC (www.IPC.org) is a global industry association based in Bannockburn, Ill., dedicated to the competitive excellence and financial success of its 3,200+ member companies which represent all facets of the electronics industry, including design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and test. As a member-driven organization and leading source for industry standards, training, industry intelligence and public policy advocacy, IPC supports programs to meet the needs of an estimated $2 trillion global electronics industry.
