Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions in the Field of Applied Superconductivity (Materials)

The award recognizes a living individual for a career of meritorious achievements and outstanding technical contributions in the field of applied superconductor materials technology, over a period of time (nominally more than twenty years) based on novel and innovative concepts and theories proposed by the individual, the authorship or co-authorship of many publications of major significance to the field of applied superconductor materials technology, and the impact that the candidate’s contributions have had on the development and maturing of applied superconductivity.

In 2013, the award was renamed the "IEEE Dr. James Wong Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions to Applied Superconductor Materials Technology."

Prize:
Recipients will receive a $5,000 honorarium, a suitably inscribed plaque, and a medallion fabricated from niobium.
Funding:
Funded by the Council on Superconductivity.
Presentation:
To be presented during an awards ceremony at the Applied Superconductivity Conference or at other international conferences related to applied superconductivity as designated by the President of the IEEE Council on SuperConductivity.
Basis for Judging:
For contribution to the field of applied superconductivity over a period of time (nominally, more than twenty years) based on novel and innovative concepts proposed by the individual, the authorship or co-authorship of a number of publications of major significance to the field of applied superconductivity and the presentation of a number of invited and plenary talks at major national and international conferences and meetings in applied superconductivity, and the impact that the candidate’s accomplishments have had on the development and maturing of applied superconductivity.
Eligibility:
The recipient must have been active in the field of applied superconductivity for at least twenty years; and must be able to attend the international conference related to applied superconductivity at which the Award will be made. The recipient does not have to be a member of the IEEE and there shall be no restrictions based on nationality, country of residence, age or gender. An individual may receive only one IEEE Council on SuperConductivity sponsored Award for his/her contributions to superconductor materials science and technology.
Nomination Details:

John R. Clem

For continuing and significant contributions to the development of superconducting materials by advancing the science of both low-temperature and high-temperature superconducting materials, in particular:
• for his many significant theoretical contributions to the electrodynamic behavior of current-carrying superconductors,
• for applying his theoretical understanding to explain the observed behavior in various applications of superconductivity, both large-scale and small-scale,
• for his service as Science Editor of "High-Tc Update" from 1987 to 2000, when he briefly reviewed and summarized the "tsunami" of papers that were written following the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity.

Alexis P. Malozemoff

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of superconducting conductors, in particular:
• for his co-discovery of “giant flux creep” and the irreversibility line in high-temperature superconductors (HTS), and applying these vortex physics concepts in developing practical HTS wires and their applications, and,
• for his leadership as Chief Technical Officer of American Superconductor Corporation in developing practical conductors and cables from HTS material for commercial applications.


Ronald M. Scanlan

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of superconducting cables and conductors for magnet applications, in particular
• for directing the development of advanced Nb₃Sn conductors and the use of this material in the design, construction and testing of the 50 mm bore Nb₃Sn dipole magnet which achieved a world record field of 13.5 tesla,
• for directing the design and construction of a variety of high field (greater than 10 tesla) magnets for accelerator applications, and,
• for developing techniques for fabricating Rutherford- type cables (with up to 60 strands) from Bi-2212 high temperature superconducting wires.


James Wong

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of low temperature superconducting wires, cables and conductors, in particular:
• for founding Supercon, Inc. in 1962 which has supplied production quantities of high-quality superconducting wire for a longer time than any other firm in the world, and,
• for producing a variety of niobium-titanium and niobium-tin superconducting wires, cables and conductors for many commercial and research application, especially most of the major accelerator programs.

Archie MacRobert Campbell

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of superconducting materials by advancing the science of both low temperature and high temperature superconducting materials, in particular:
• for making contributions to the subject of flux pinning in Type II superconductors,
• for authoring, with the late Jan Evetts, the subject-defining monograph on critical currents in superconductors, and,
• for his leadership of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Superconductivity at the University of Cambridge which promote research across a wide range of superconducting science and technology.


Jack W. Ekin

For significant and sustained contributions in the characterization of superconducting materials, in particular:
• for his pioneering work in the study of strain scaling of the pinning forc in practical superconductors,
• for his insightful postulation of a unified (strain, temperature and magnetic field) scaling law,
• for his discovery of the method of making practical low-resistivity electrical contacts to high-Tc oxide superconductors, which is now the prevailing contact method for HTS materials,
• for authoring the book entitled "Experimental Techniques for Low Temperature Measurements", which has become the standard reference book for electrical measurements at cryogenic temperatures.

Masaki Suenaga

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of superconducting materials by advancing the science of both low temperature and high temperature superconducting materials, in particular,
• for establishing key synthesis-microstructure-property relationships of the bronze route process used to make the first industrial niobium-tin superconducting wires
• for establishing the interdependence of strain and properties of A-15 superconductors for establishing and optimizing the nucleation and growth kinetics of Bi(2223)/Ag and YBCO conductors, and
• for contributions to the understanding of ac losses and flux pinning in these materials.

Herbert Freyhardt

For outstanding and sustained contributions in the field of superconducting materials and conductors; in particular:
• for his early work on the role of dislocations and precipitates on flux pinning in low temperature superconducting materials;
• for the development of innovative powder metallurgical technologies;
• for the processing of A-15 superconductors;
• for pioneering the use of Ion- Beam-Assisted-Deposition (IBAD) techniques for the preparation of YBCO tapes and coated conductors and encouraging programs for the development of coated conductor employing yttrium-barium-copper-oxide (YBCO) technology; and,
• for playing an important role in organizing many very influential workshops on flux pinning and processing of low and high temperature superconductors and, subsequently, chairing the initial European Conference on Applied Superconductivity (EUCAS)

René Flükiger

For outstanding and sustained contributions in the field of superconducting materials and conductors; in particular:
• for his early seminal work on the effect of atomic ordering on the electronic properties of A15 compounds and his contribution to the phase diagram of Nb3Sn
• for proposing the unique link between materials science and practical conductor engineering that led to the decisive enhancement of the critical currents in Nb3Sn wires in view of NMR applications at very high magnetic fields
• for his significant research on high temperature superconductors, in particular Bi,Pb-2223
• for his developments in MgB2, and
• for training generations of students and young researchers in his laboratory at the University of Geneva

John M. Rowell

For significant and continuing contributions in the field of superconductor electronic materials, devices and circuits; in particular:
• for his pioneering observation of the Josephson Effect
• for the development of tunneling spectroscopy
• for the invention of the niobium-aluminum/aluminum oxide-niobium Josephson tunnel junction configuration which has been adopted throughout the world for fabricating low temperature superconductor circuits
• for his leadership of materials and device research groups working on superconductor electronics at Bell Laboratories, Bellcore and Conductus, Inc.
• for his continuing insight into the crucial materials issues associated with superconductor electronics
• and for promoting research into the properties of various thin film materials systems for superconductor electronic applications.

Jan Evetts

For significant and continuing contributions in the field of superconducting materials, in particular:
• for his pioneering work in flux pinning and critical currents
• for co-authorship of the classic textbook on flux pinning and its dependence on microstructure
• for his leadership role in Superconducting studies at the University of Cambridge


Eric Gregory

For significant and continuing contributions in the field of superconducting materials, in particular:
• for his pioneering work in developing high critical current density in niobium-titanium conductors
• for his leadership in the commercialization, by a number of industrial companies, of multi-filamentary conductors of niobium-titanium and, later, of niobum-3-tin for many high energy physics accelerator projects, including the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) and many fusion projects including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

David Larbalestier

For significant and continuing contributions in the field of superconductive materials: leading to the identification of microstructural features that resulted in dramatic increases in the superconducting critical current density: in particular, for the identification and optimization of magnetic flux pinning centers and the identification and minimization of deleterious defects in superconducting wires and tapes.


Kyoji Tachikawa

For significant and continuing contributions in the field of superconducting materials: in particular, the pioneering research in innovative and intelligent materials processing techniques for the formation of superconducting wires and tapes, leading to the development of new high-field superconductors that incorporates useful intermetallic compounds.