About the Award
This award (established in 1996; renamed 2009; renamed 2015) recognizes outstanding achievement and contribution to the profession through involvement in IEEE IAS activities by an IAS member less than 35 years of age.
Eligibility:
Nominees must be under 35 years of age as of 1 January of the year of the award. Self-nomination is not permitted for this award.
Basis for Judging:
Outstanding contribution to the profession in the form of IEEE/IAS activities such as (but not limited to) authorship of technical papers, IAS chapter leadership, IAS committee work, conference leadership, and standards working groups.
Nomination Deadline:
Nominations are accepted until April 15, 2026.
Online Submission Form:
Submit a nomination through our online submission form. Only online submissions will be accepted for award nominations.
Prize:
$3,000, Plaque and travel expenses to attend an IAS sponsored conference for presentation and recognition.
Funded by:
Funded by the IEEE Industry Applications Society.
Presentation:
The selected recipient is notified by June 1 and arrangements for receiving the award are made. Presentation of the award is at IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, or any other IAS sponsored conference that the recipient choses.
Society-Level Awards
Award Honorees
Latest Award Winner
The 2026 IEEE Industry Applications Andrew W. Smith Outstanding Young Member Achievement Award was presented to Nishanth Gadiyar, for contributions to advancing electric machine and electromechanical systems through multi-physics optimization, harmonic control and modern manufacturing techniques
Past Recipients Include:
| Year | Award Recipient |
| 2025 | Yueshi Guan |
| 2024 | Prerit Pramod |
| 2023 | Saturupa Bal |
| 2022 | Zhaohao Ding |
| 2021 | Zheyu Zhang |
| 2020 | Yue Zhao |
| 2019 | Jiangbiao He |
| 2018 | Pinjia Zhang |
| 2017 | Xu She |
| 2016 | David C. Mazur |
| 2015 | Tiefu Zhao |
| 2014 | Bin Lu |
| 2013 | Akshay Kumar Rathore |
| 2012 | Zhi Gao |
| 2011 | no recipient |
| 2010 | Dr. Wei Qiao |
| 2009 | Dr. Ayman M. EL-Rafaie |
| 2008 | Nadezhda A. Dvurechenskaya |
| 2007 | Leila Parsa |
| 2006 | Burak Ozpineci |
| 2005 | Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy |
| 2004 | Dan Neeser |
| 2003 | Michael J. Hittel |
| 2002 | Giovanna Oriti |
| 2001 | Leon M. Tolbert |
| 2000 | Annette von Jouanne |
| 1999 | Kimberly K. Eastwood |
| 1998 | Iqbal Husain |
| 1997 | S. Mark Halpin |
| 1996 | Christine M. Kent |