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SBE Announces Winners of 2018 National Awards
July 27, 2018
The 2018 SBE National Awards, which recognize excellence and achievement by individual members, SBE chapters and Sustaining Member companies, have been announced. The two highest individual awards are the Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year and the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year.
The Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year award is presented to a member who has excelled in his or her career while furthering the mission of the SBE. Candidates are nominated by their peers. The winner of the award for 2018 is Mark Persons, CPBE, AMD, CBNT, of Brainerd, MN. Persons is a current member of SBE Chapter 17.
The recipient of the James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year award is recognized for outstanding service and excellence in sharing knowledge through teaching other broadcast engineers. The winner of the 2018 James C. Wulliman SBE Educator of the Year award is Jeff Welton, CBRE, in Hackett’s Cove, NS. Welton is the sales manager for the central region of the US at Nautel and has been a presenter at many Ennes Workshops conducted by the SBE across the country.
Mark Persons was exposed to broadcast engineering at an early age. His father began working as a broadcast engineer in the 1920s. Throughout his 50+ year career, Persons helped to build 12 new commercial AM and FM radio broadcast stations for clients as well as countless other rebuilds and upgrades. Recently retired, Persons and his wife Paula are mentoring four broadcast engineers. It is Mark’s way of giving back to the industry that kept him employed for over half a century. In addition to his hands-on work, Person’s has also written more than 175 articles between 1980 and 2018, as well as presented 27 talks at various events throughout that same time period.
Jeff Welton began his professional career in 1990 as a Nautel field service technician. In addition to his current work with Nautel, Welton also lends his expertise to CKVE-FM as a co-engineer. CKVE is a community broadcaster in Hubbards, NS. This unique background has served Jeff well in his many technical presentations, tutorials and speaking engagements. He has further provided his broadcast engineer colleagues countless professional development events ranging from Nautel specific equipment seminars, participated as an instructor at the Alabama Broadcast Association Engineering Academy and served as a presenter at the NAB BEIT conference. His passion for transmitter site safety education is just one area of noteworthy mention.
Davicom has been awarded the 2018 SBE Technology Award for its Cortex 360 Site Management System. The Cortex 360 Site Management System is based on the latest hardware processors running an embedded Linux operating system, which incorporates 30 years of experience and knowledge in the remote site management industry.
Chapter and Individual Awards
Chapters are the lifeblood of the SBE, and 2018 marks the fifth year that the Chapter Engineer of the Year Award has highlighted the achievements of members within their chapters. This year, six chapters selected their own award recipients. Each winner will be presented with a special certificate and be recognized nationally on the SBE website and in a future issue of The Signal. The six chapter winners also were automatically nominated for the national Robert W. Flanders SBE Engineer of the Year Award. The 2018 national winner, Mark Persons, represented Chapter 17 as its Chapter Engineer of the Year Award winner.
The 2017 Broadcasters Clinic in Wisconsin has won for Best Chapter Regional Educational Event. Chapter 16 in Seattle, WA, has won for Best Chapter Communication.
Rob Sobol of Hilights has won the award for Best Technical Article, Book or Program by an SBE member for "NOC, NOC. Who’s There?" in AGL Magazine.
Statistical Awards
Greatest Growth in New Members
Class A: Chapter 57, Rochester, NY Chapter Chairman Gregory Carter, CBT, CBNT
Class B: Chapter 118, Montgomery, AL, Chapter Chairman Wiely Boswell, CBRE, CBNE
Most Certified Chapters
Class A: Chapter 115, Southern Idaho, Chapter Chairman Thomas Kettwig, CBT
Class B: Chapter 131, Inland Empire, Chapter Chairman Wayne Murphy, CPBE, CBNE, and Certification Chairman Paul Claxton, CPBE, CBNE
Highest Member Attendance
Class A: Chapter 145, Magic Valley, Chapter Chairman Thomas Lowther, CSRTE, CBNT
Class B: Chapter 79, Austin, TX, Chapter Chairman Ed Rupp, CBTE, CBNT
Nominations for the 2019 awards will open in February.
Note: Class awards are determined using the median chapter size as of Dec. 31, 2017, as the dividing line between Class A (fewer than the median) and Class B (more than the median).
