Dr. Richard B. Kershner Award

History

In 1986, the PLANS Executive Committee established an award for outstanding achievement. The purpose was to recognize individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the technology of navigation and position equipment, systems or practices. The committee has established this as a PLANS tradition, thus permitting the IEEE to recognize those who have contributed most significantly to this modern era of electronic navigation.

It is appropriate that the award has been named for Dr. Richard B. Kershner (1913-1982). Dr. Kershner participated in the initial conception and then led the development of Transit, the world's first navigation satellite system.  His technical contributions and his leadership of the Program at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory are examples of the highest standards of personal and professional performance which this award is intended to recognize. The Transit Program was first funded in 1959, and the system become operational in 1964. During this short interval Dr. Kershner directed the development and launch of some of the world's first satellites, developed user equipment for both submarines and surface ships, and founded the science of satellite Doppler geodesy to improve knowledge of the earth's gravity field. The result was a navigation satellite system which served the U.S. Navy and tens of thousands of civil users worldwide.

Nominations

Please submit nominations for this prestigious award to meetings@ion.org by January 20. Include all the following information in the nomination email:

  1. the name and contact information of the nominee
  2. your name and contact information
  3. a paragraph explaining why the individual should be considered for this award
  4. a proposed citation (25 words or less)
  5. any other relevant information.

Deadline

Nominations are due by January 20. Only nominations submitted in their entirety by the deadline will be considered.

Past Recipients

Recipient Name(s): Dr. Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska
Year: 2023
Award: Kershner Award
First Name: Dorota
Last Name: Grejner-Brzezinska
Citation: For her numerous outstanding and sustained contributions to advancing research in applications of GNSS and multi‐sensor integrated systems for assured navigation that contributed to the advancement of GNSS algorithms and creation of its new applications.
Biography:
Photo: Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska
Recipient Name(s): Dr. Y. Jade Morton
Year: 2020
Award: Kershner Award
First Name: Jade
Last Name: Morton
Citation: For her contributions to the advancement of navigation receiver technology including event-driven multi-GNSS data collection systems, robust tracking under scintillation, reduction of errors due to oscillator frequency offsets, multipath, and interference; and as an educator whose passion for teaching and mentoring has benefited students throughout the world.
Biography:
Photo: 2020 Kershner Award Dr. Y. Jade Morton
Recipient Name(s): Dr. Per Enge
Year: 2018
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For his continued contributions in the field of radio-navigation, from Loran-C through GNSS, including its many augmentations, as well as for the guidance of students.
Biography:
Photo: Per Enge
Recipient Name(s): Mr. John Weyrauch
Year: 2016
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For his contributions to the field of electronic navigation and development of advanced navigation technologies including the path planning and control for the re-entry and landing of the NASA Space Shuttle, missiles, projectiles, and commercial aircraft; as an educator and mentor who trained and inspired many navigation engineers; and as an active participant in industry related education and outreach.
Biography:
Photo: John Weyrauch
Recipient Name(s): Dr. Charles Volk
Year: 2014
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For successfully fielding four generations of navigation systems and his pioneering work in the development of nuclear magnetic resonance gyroscopes; including the development of the ring laser gyro and the zero-lock gyro, the development of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers used in inertial measurement units, and precision gyros that enhances navigation performance in GPS-challenged environments.
Biography:
Photo: Kershner - Charles Volk
Recipient Name(s): Dr. Richard Greenspan
Year: 2012
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For his pioneering work in the integration of GPS receivers with inertial navigation systems and the development and perfection of carrier-phase GPS interferometry for the high precision measurement of fixed and moving baselines.
Biography:

Dr. Greenspan has been a member of the technical staff of The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory since 1978 where he has held both high-level management and technical positions. He currently holds the highest rank on Draper's engineering ladder, where he is the technical lead on several initiatives to improve the situational awareness of our warfighters and reduce any "collateral damage" from their actions. These activities rely on the creative uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that exploit Global Navigation Satellite Systems when they are available and other means when SATNAV is not fully available. U.S. warfighters are greatly benefiting from Dr. Greenspan's sustained contributions to the art and science of satellite navigation that is highly integrated with other sensors.

Dr. Greenspan has lectured worldwide on "Innovative Applications of Satellite Navigation" under sponsorship by the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He is a Fellow and a Past President of ION. He is also an Associate Fellow of the AIAA, a lifetime member of the IEEE, and a member of the AGU. He has been an associate editor of NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation since 1992 and has been consulting editor on navigation for McGraw-Hill's Encyclopedia of Science and Technology since 1998. He holds several patents in the area of satellite navigation technology, has published many excellent and often referenced technical papers and was the invited author of the "GPS and Inertial Integration" chapter in the classic AIAA book Global Positioning System: Theory and Applications, Volume I". He received his BS (1960), MS (1962) and PhD (1968) in electrical engineering from MIT, all with high honors.

 

Photo: Greenspan-Richard-Kershner
Recipient Name(s): Dr. James Huddle
Year: 2010
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For his work on inertial and multi-sensor navigation and referencing systems.
Biography:

Over his distinguished career, Dr. Huddle has performed and directed system mechanization, analysis, evaluation, and optimization of various multi-sensor navigation, guidance, and surveying systems. The sensors employed include inertial, Doppler radar and sonar, LORAN, Stellar-trackers, Laser and RF range and range-rate devices, EM-logs, TERCOM, NAVSAT, OMEGA, and GPS. Applications include air, marine and land navigation and referencing systems, strategic and tactical missile guidance, and position and gravity surveying systems.

Additionally, Dr. Huddle served on the Naval Studies Board Panel for Advanced Navigation Technology for the National Academy of Sciences from 1982 to 1984. He received the Institute of Navigation's Thomas L. Thurlow Award in 1988, the Institute's highest award granted for "Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Navigation". He is a Fellow of the ION, the IEEE and the International Association of Geodesy. He has been awarded 11 patents has several pending.

The PLANS Executive Committee is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of Dr. James Huddle.  

Photo: Huddle-James
Recipient Name(s): Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck
Year: 2008
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For his work on inertial and multi-sensor navigation and referencing systems.
Biography:

Dr. Van Dierendonck's contributions to navigation are many and varied, and they span a period of over 40 years. He has made numerous and significant contributions to the development of GPS and its augmentations. He was the manager for the Phase I GPS Control Segment design, led the initial design of the GPS broadcast navigation message, and was a significant contributor to the development of the RTCM differential GPS correction message standard which is still widely used.

Since 1989, Dr. Van Dierendonck has been a self-employed GPS consultant with AJ Systems, and is the senior general partner with GPS Silicon Valley. He is the co-inventor of narrow correlator technology, which is now an industry standard in GPS receivers for multipath navigation. He also worked on the navigation payload for the Inmarsat-3 geostationary satellites, the first satellites used for SBASs such as WAAS and EGNOS. Dr. Van Dierendonck co-chaired a working group within RTCA that developed the signal structure and message formats used today by operational SBASs. He was a major contributor to the design of the GPS L5 signal, which will be broadcast from the GPS Block IIF and later satellites. He also led the design of SBAS L5 signals, which are currently broadcast by WAAS.

He is the author of numerous technical papers and two major textbooks. He is a two time ION Burka Award winner, and has also been the recipient of the ION's Kepler and Thurlow Awards. He is an ION and IEEE Fellow and is in the USAF's GPS Hall of Fame.

The PLANS Executive Committee is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of Dr. A.J. Van Dierendonck.  

Photo: VanDierendonck-AJ
Recipient Name(s): Dr. Myron Kayton
Year: 2006
Award: Kershner Award
First Name:
Last Name:
Citation: For his work on avionic, navigation, communication, and computer-automation systems.
Biography:

Dr. Myron Kayton has 50 years of -experience designing avionic, navigation, communication, and computer-automation systems.

Dr. Kayton received a Ph.D. in Instrumentation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1960, an M.S. from Harvard University with a concentration in electrical engineering, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from The Cooper Union.

From 1960 to 1965, he was section head at Litton's Guidance and Control Division where he designed and analyzed some of the earliest multi-sensor navigation systems.

From 1965 to 1968, Dr. Kayton served as deputy manager for Lunar Module Guidance and Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center where his office directed the contractors designing two inertial navigation systems, an alignment telescope, and the flight controls.

From 1968 to 1981 at TRW, Dr. Kayton served as chief engineer for spacelab avionics, head of system engineering for space shuttle avionics, and project engineer for the electronics of the inertial upper stage and a nuclear power plant, among many assignments.

Presently, Dr. Kayton is a consulting engineering at Kayton Engineering Company serving clients in the areas of automotive electronic systems, automated process systems, upper-stage spacecraft, a satellite interceptor, commercial communication systems, numerous aircraft avionic systems, and a dozen land navigators.

Dr. Kayton is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), was an elected member of the corporate board of directors, and served two terms as president of its Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS). He has been technical chairman for several conference sessions, keynote speaker, and an active member of standards committees for navigation sensors and computers for nuclear power plants. Dr. Kayton taught at UCLA and is a IEEE Distinguished Lecturer. He is the author of numerous papers and of the standard reference text, Avionics and Navigation Systems (1st and 2nd editions) and of Navigation: Land, Sea, Air, and Space. He is a past recipient of the IEEE's Millennium Medal. He is listed in Who's Who in Engineering, Who's Who in America, and in American Men and Women in Science.

The PLANS 2006 Executive Committee is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of Dr. Myron Kayton.  

Photo: Kayton-Myron
2004: Itzhack Y. Bar-Itzhack
2002: R. Grover Brown
2000: Mr. Tom Stansell
1998: Charles C. (Chuck) Counselman III
1996: Charles Trimble
1994: Joseph Killpatrick
1992: Alvin Pierce and Eric Swanson
1990: Bahar Uttam
1988: Fred Aronowitz
1986: Dr. Bradford Parkinson