With the Fellow nomination deadline of March 1, 2012, just around the corner, we encourage all members to consider nominating a colleague for IEEE Fellow. Every year, just over 300 members across the IEEE are selected for elevation to the level of Fellow. This is a prestigious accomplishment and one in which the Power & Energy Society has traditionally had considerable representation. There have been a couple of recent changes to the nomination process and at the PES General Meeting in Detroit, a panel session was held to provide "best practices" information and suggestions for nominees and nominators. The presentation slides from this panel session are briefly summarized here and the full presentation can be found on the PES web site here.

Members may be nominated in one of four categories: application engineer/practitioner, educator, research engineer/scientist, or technical leader. To be considered in the application engineer/practitioner category, the successful nominee will have significant tangible and verifiable evidence of the development of a technology or process that was a direct outcome of the nominee’s efforts. A successful educator must similarly show significant impact on engineering education through curriculum or textbook development. The category of research engineer/scientist requires that the nominee will have made significant innovation in discovery or invention. The technical leader will have evidence of spearheading technical achievement through management and vision. Detailed information regarding these categories can be found on the IEEE Fellows web site here. The three primary areas discussed at the panel session were the (1) review and selection process, (2) the nominator's statement, and (3) the reference letters. Many members are not familiar with the process by which fellow nominations are reviewed. The process varies slightly between technical committees, but in general the review and selection process follow this set of steps:

1. A technical committee identifies members suitable for consideration and selects a nominator for each from within the committee. Individuals can also choose to nominate a member for consideration separate from technical committees. Either approach is acceptable.
2. The nominator prepares the nomination packet and contacts potential Fellows to write letters of recommendation.
3. The nomination packet is submitted to IEEE by the deadline (typically 1 March annually).
4. The nomination form is then reviewed by the Fellow Committee of the technical society (PES for example) designated on the packet. The PES Fellow Committee typically consists of nine members selected from among the various technical committees. Prior to review, the PES Fellow Committee may solicit the input of the technical committee in which the nominee is most active regarding the merit of the nominee's contributions. Input from the Power & Energy Education Committee (PEEC) may also be sought if the nominee is an educator. The technical society's review committee members do not see the letters of recommendation submitted with nomination packet.
5. The nominee is then rated by the society committee as: extraordinarily qualified, highly qualified, qualified, or not qualified. This recommendation and a ranking are then forwarded to the IEEE Fellow Committee.
6. The IEEE Fellow Committee consists of 52 members representing IEEE. Each nomination packet is review by five members of the IEEE committee. The nominees are rated based on factors including individual contributions, society evaluation, evidence of technical accomplishments, professional activities, and the strength of their reference letters. The committee then forwards their recommended slate of candidates to the IEEE Board of Directors for final approval.

Since the PES committee does not have access to the reference letters, the nominator's statement is very important. Any person, including non-IEEE members, is eligible to serve as a nominator; however some reviewers may have a preference for nominators who are well-known and technically experienced. This preference for a highly accomplished nominator may lie in the perception that accomplished people will only nominate others who are similarly qualified. However, one of the review specific criteria is that the nominator be personally aware of the nominee's technical contributions. Furthermore, it is very important that the nominator be able to succinctly describe the nominee's one or two primary contributions to the society and how these contributions have impacted society. One common error nominators make is to try to cover too much material by describing multiple contributions. It is more effective to describe in detail only those contributions that are directly related to the nominee’s proposed citation than to describe many activities broadly. The nominator may provide only three items of direct tangible evidence (such publications, patents, or reports). The tangible evidence must directly support the stated contributions. It is important that the citation, contributions, and evidence form a cohesive argument for engineering significance and lasting societal impact. It is preferred if the journal publications used as evidence are primarily from the IEEE Transactions of the technical society.

The reference letters are an extremely important part of the nomination packet. To be most effective, the reference letters should be from people who are very familiar with the nominee's contribution. Only the IEEE-wide Fellow Committee has access to these reference letters and they are a crucial part of the consideration. Since the PES review committee sees only the names of the referees, the stature and reputation of the referees may influence the PES review. However, at the IEEE level, the committee members will probably not recognize the names of the referees, so the content of the letter is more important than the reputation of the referee. A well-written referee letter will contain information different and distinct from the nomination; it should support the nominee's contributions from a different perspective from the nominators’. The referee should attempt to provide a personal perspective about how the nominee’s contributions have supported his or her own work. Lastly, a mediocre reference letter is worse than no letter; a referee who is hesitant or unfamiliar with the nominee’s work should be avoided. Lastly, remind the referees of the submission deadline.

Endorsement letters are optional and are typically from sources other than technical committees. Typical endorsements may come from local chapters, other professional societies (such as ASME or NSPE), or from an IEEE member who is not a Fellow and therefore unable to serve as referee. Endorsement letters are seen more widely than references, but are not depended upon for determination of the value of the contributions.

The IEEE Power & Energy Society encourages all members to consider nominating a deserving colleague for Fellow consideration.

Please note that Fellow Nominations Are Now Only Accepted Electronically

A change to how Fellow nomination forms are submitted will take place for the 2013 Fellow Class. Previously, nominations were submitted either by hard copy or through the Fellow online application. After allowing both methods for many years, the Fellow Committee and the IEEE Board of Directors approved the change to go completely electronic. The 2013 Fellow Class will be the first class where all the forms (nominations, references, endorsements) will have to be submitted electronically. No hard copy forms will be accepted for any reason. The nomination period for the 2013 Fellow Class is now open and will continue through 01 March 2012. Nominee eligibility requirements, steps to becoming an IEEE Fellow, nomination instructions and much more can be found on the Fellow Web Site at www.ieee.org/fellows.

Mariesa Crow, 2012 Chair, PES Awards Committee