Amateur of The Year – Mr. S. Suri, VU2MY Amateur of the Year organized amateur radio throughout India. He also established the National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) in 1983. He was responsible to for major DX-expeditions; is an enthusiastic advocate with amateur radio regulatory agencies for policies and programs; and initiated advanced skill development programs among youth. He has been honored by many government and non-government organizations in India and abroad.
Technical Excellence – Winning the Technical Achievement Award is Joel Hallas. Joel is known for his monthly QST column titled “The Doctor Is Inâ€. His column answers many technical questions of amateur radio. Joel answers these questions in an easy to read format. Additionally, he is the author many technical manuals and has garnered many technical awards and remains one of the top technical authors in our avocation.
Special Achievement – Steven Betza, WZ2V wins the Special Achievement Award for 2012. He enjoys teaching a wide range of students through live experiments and missions. Through a project called Blue Horizon, he caused the licensing of 38 new hams, set the world record for the highest amateur balloon vehicle (125,000 feet AGL), and demonstrated many technical feats relating to the flight.
Club of the Year – Deutsche Amateur Radio Club (DARC). DARC organized the country of Germany into one unified national amateur radio organization. It provides educational and technical support for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners. DARC plays a major role in training and licensing and is well respected throughout the European Union (EU).