The Draper Prize

Administered by the National Academy of Engineering, the Draper Prize is endowed by The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., and was established in 1988. The Prize is awarded for outstanding achievement, particularly innovation and reduction to practice, in engineering and technology contributing to the advancement of the welfare and freedom of humanity. The Prize honors the memory of Draper Laboratory’s founder, Dr. Charles Stark Draper, who pioneered inertial navigation. It is intended to increase public understanding of the contributions of engineering and technology. Originally biennial, the Prize is now awarded annually.

NOMINATION PROCESS

Nominations of candidates for the Prize, awarded to living persons from any country, are sought from members and foreign associates of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, and Institute of Medicine; members and foreign associates of academies of engineering worldwide; members of recognized US and international engineering societies; and other individuals deemed eligible by the National Academy of Engineering. Recipients of the Prize are chosen by a committee of members of the National Academy of Engineering who represent a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines.

For more information on the nomination process, contact the Public Affairs Office at the National Academy of Engineering at 202-334-1237.

RECIPIENTS

2008: Dr. Rudolf Kalman, for the development and dissemination of the optimal digital technique (known as the Kalman Filter) that is pervasively used to control a vast array of consumer, health, commercial and defense products. see article

2007: Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, for the invention and development of the World Wide Web.

2006: Drs. Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, for the invention of the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD), a light-sensitive component at the heart of digital cameras and other widely used imaging technologies. see article

2005: Minoru "Sam" Araki, Francis J. Madden, Edward A. Miller, James W. Plummer, and Don H. Schoessler for the design, development, and operation of Corona, the first space-based earth observation system. see article

2004: Dr. Alan C. Kay, Dr. Butler W. Lampson, Robert W. Taylor, and Charles P. Thacker for the vision, conception, and development of the principles for, and their effective integration in, the world's first practical networked personal computers. see article

2003: Drs. Bradford W. Parkinson and Ivan A. Getting in recognition of their technological achievements in the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS)

2002: Dr. Robert S. Langer for extraordinary contributions to the bioengineering of revolutionary medical drug delivery systems

2001: Drs. Vinton Cerf, Robert Kahn, Leonard Kleinrock, and Lawrence Roberts for the invention of the Internet

1999: Drs. Charles K. Kao, Robert D. Maurer, and John B. MacChesney for development of fiber-optic technology

1997: Dr. Vladimir Haensel for the development in chemical engineering of the Platforming ™ process

1995: Drs. John R. Pierce and Harold A. Rosen for their development of communication satellite technology

1993: John Backus for his development of FORTRAN, the first widely used, general purpose, high-level computer language

1991: Sir Frank Whittle and Dr. Hans J. P. von Ohain for their independent development of the turbojet engine

1989: Jack S. Kilby and Dr. Robert N. Noyce for their independent development of the monolithic integrated circuit