IPC Rolls Out Red Carpet for Standards A-Team Volunteers at Annual Golden Gnome Awards Ceremony at IPC SummerCom

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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.