SMTA “Members of Distinction” Award Winners Announced

Minneapolis, MN – The SMTA is proud to honor the 2020 “Members of Distinction” award recipients who have shown exceptional dedication to the association and the electronics assembly industry.

The association’s highest honor, the Founder’s Award, recognizes members who have made exceptional contributions to the industry, as well as support and service to the SMTA. This year, the organization selected Reza Ghaffarian, Ph.D., Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to receive this prestigious award. SMTA and the electronics industry have benefited immensely from Dr. Ghaffarian’s research and advocacy in the area of reliability over the years.

The Member of Technical Distinction Award recognizes individuals who have made significant and continuing technical contributions to the association. This year the Awards Committee selected Lenora Clark, ESI Automotive, as the recipient of this award. Lenora has presented numerous technical papers at SMTA conferences, is a member of the SMTA International technical committee, and most recently co-chairs the Additive Electronics TechXchange.

The Excellence in Leadership Award honors members who stand out as strong leaders in the association. The 2020 recipient of this award is Jasbir Bath, Bath Consultancy. Jasbir has been dedicated to the success of the SMTA for over 20 years. He has demonstrated his leadership experience in various roles on the Silicon Valley Chapter leadership team.  Jasbir brings an acute attention to detail, inclusivity, and passion for his chapter and to technical knowledge sharing. The SMTA thanks Jasbir for his many valuable years of service.

The Excellence in International Leadership Award recognizes members who have provided outstanding support and leadership to the SMTA’s international members, chapters, or educational programs. The recipient selected for this award is Kong Hui Lee, Ph.D., CSMTPE, Cisco Systems (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. KH has been instrumental in bringing technical presentations to the SMTA Penang Chapter as well as working with headquarters to bring that information to a global audience.

L3HARRIS Corporation received the SMTA+ Corporate Partnership Award this year. As a global member, L3HARRIS has shown support at every level of the association from supporting leadership positions to technical contributions for conferences, committees, and most importantly their willingness to share technical knowledge with others in the industry. They embody the SMTA mission by encouraging employees to become members, attend meetings and share their knowledge. L3HARRIS is most deserving of this honor.

SMTA has recognized exceptional individual and corporate members for their immeasurable contributions to the association since 1994.

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