EE Times Announces Recipients of the Educator of the Year and Student of the Year ACE Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CMP Media's Electronics Group today announced that Geoffrey C. Orsak, dean of the Southern Methodist University School of Engineering and executive director of the Institute for Engineering Education at SMU, is the recipient of the EE Times ACE Award for Educator of the Year and Adam Sidman, senior at Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., is the recipient of the EE Times ACE Award for Student of the Year. The first-ever categories of the EE Times ACE Awards will be presented at the EE Times ACE Awards Gala on April 4, 2006, as part of the Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley.

The EE Times ACE Awards honors those who are leading the way and making positive contributions -- the real innovators of technology. The Educator the Year award recognizes an individual who brings leadership, creativity and inspiration to students in an engineering or science curriculum in college or secondary schools. The Student of the Year award recognizes a student whose discipline, hard work and academic success are considered hallmarks for other engineering or science students.

Geoffrey C. Orsak, dean of the Southern Methodist University School of Engineering and executive director of the Institute for Engineering Education at SMU has served as a member of a number of distinguished national and state boards focused on improving engineering education including the IEEE Education Activities Board and the executive committee of the Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium. Orsak founded the Institute for Engineering Education, one of the first nationally funded entities to support the advancement of engineering education from kindergarten through graduate school. In this role, he created a number of award-winning programs, including The Infinity Project, a national award-winning K-12 and early college math- and science-based engineering and technology education initiative that helps school districts incorporate state-of-the-art engineering and advanced technology in the high school classroom.

"There is simply no doubt that the future of our technology-based industries depends directly upon our ability to develop the most talented and innovative engineers in the world. Through this distinguished award, EE Times is recognizing the crucial importance of high-quality engineering and science education to our industry," said Orsak. "On behalf of the thousands of educators across this country working hard every day, I am truly humbled and honored to receive this very special recognition."

"Geoffrey C. Orsak is a true pioneer and visionary for the development of technical education among students across America," said Brian Fuller, publisher and editor-in-chief, EE Times. "We are proud to select him as the first-ever recipient of the EE Times ACE Award for Educator of the Year. His accomplishments set the standard for all future winners."

Adam Sidman is a film producer, design engineer and inventor as well as a high school senior. Outside of school, Sidman designs mixed-signal data- acquisition systems while also directing, shooting and producing short film and video subjects for local TV stations. Sidman's latest invention, a camera stabilizer, has already attracted the attention of film production companies. To keep from being distracted at school, Sidman is holding off on a patent and creating a startup company to move his stabilizer into production. Past engineering projects have won him awards in the 2003 and 2005 Intel Science and Engineering Fair, the 2006 Intel Science Talent Search and the 2005 IEEE President's Award.

"Despite his young age, Adam's dedication and creativity have led to great accomplishments and shows continued promise in the years to come," said Fuller. "Undoubtedly, he represents the brightest and best of our future scientists and engineers." About EE Times ACE Awards and Opportunities

The EE Times ACE Awards were created to recognize the people, companies and products that show leadership in the electronics industry and will honor those who are leading the way and making positive contributions -- the real innovators of technology. Awards will be presented at a second annual awards gala held on April 4, 2006 at The Fairmont San Jose during CMP Media's Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley. To purchase tickets and find out more about the event, visit http://www.eetimes.com/ace

EE Times is proud to announce the sponsors of the ACE Awards Gala. Analog Devices, Inc., Avnet, Cadence and Wind River have signed on to be gold sponsors. Atmel, Atomic PR, DMNA, McClenahan Bruer, San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau and Xilinx are silver sponsors. The associate media sponsor is IEEE Spectrum and the event sponsor is the Embedded Systems Conference Silicon Valley. About CMP Media's Electronics Group

The CMP Media Electronics Group is the premier technology and business media brand serving the information needs of the creators of technology worldwide through print, online and conferences.

As the most comprehensive and integrated source of electronics technology information, the CMP Media Electronics Group offers a full suite of products and services to reach electronics systems design professionals throughout the world. With its combination of media properties, the CMP Media Electronics Group focuses on delivering a targeted audience and actionable information to marketers in the electronics technology community.

Each month, CMP Media's Electronics Group delivers more than 1 million copies of its publications in five languages to subscribers in 55 countries. Online visitors from more than 100 countries view more than 7.5 million pages on its Web sites in six languages and in a year, more than 35,000 decision makers from 48 countries attend its conferences in North America, China, Taiwan and Europe.

CMP Media's Electronics Group properties include: -- Print - EE Times, Embedded Systems Design, Electronics Supply &

Manufacturing

-- Online - EE Times Online, DesignLines, PlanetAnalog.com, Embedded.com,

my-esm.com, CommsDesign.com, and SupplyLines

-- Conferences - Embedded Systems Conferences, Embedded Connect and Design

Seminars About CMP Media (http://www.cmp.com)

Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands in the technology, healthcare and lifestyles industries, CMP Media has earned the confidence of more professionals and enthusiasts in these fields than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in each of these industries in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Media is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion. CONTACT: Michelle Sabolich of Atomic Public Relations, +1-415-402-0230, or michelle.sabolich@atomicpr.com, for CMP Media.