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Hamel Receives George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation

Photo of Bill Hamel and Raja Chatila

Dr. Hamel and Professor Raja Chatila, past president of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

Professor Bill Hamel received the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation at the 2018 IEEE/Robotics Society of Japan International Conference on Robotics and Intelligent Systems held in Madrid, Spain, October 1-5.

This award is the society’s top award for leadership, and recognizes outstanding contributions of an individual for his/her exceptional leadership, and dedication that benefit the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. The award is named in honor of Professor George Saridis, the founding president of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Council, which later became the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, who exemplified the characteristics sought in nominees for this award. The citation used in Hamel’s award is “For continued leadership that has significantly contributed to the growth and development of robotics in hazardous environments and to the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.”

Hamel is a professor in the mechanical, aerospace, and biomedical engineering department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, he worked for 31 years at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he led and performed research and development in the general areas of robotics, automation, and remote systems for hazardous nuclear, space, and military applications. He is a fellow of the IEEE and the ASME.  He was the 2015 recipient of the American Nuclear Society’s Ray Goertz Award for contributions to robotics and remote handling.