IEEE/ASME Best Mechatronics Pape

IEEE/ASME Best Mechatronics Paper Award Established in 2008 and jointly administered by the co-sponsors IEEE-IES, IEE-RAS, ASME-DSCD, the purpose of this award is to recognize the best refereed paper published in the volume year of the IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

Prize	The award shall consist of a printed certificate and a $1,000 cash award.
Eligibility	Publication of an original paper in the IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics in the previous calendar year; the author need not be a member of IEEE or ASME.
Basis for Judging	Quality, originality, utility, timeliness, clarity of presentation.
Nominee Solicitation	Nominations solicited by T-Mech Editor-in-Chief from the Editorial Board, guest Editors, and readership (through published notice).
Selection Process	Nominations screened and reduced to a short list by a Nomination Committee of the Editorial Board and submitted to the Selection Committee for final selection.
Frequency	The award generally will be made annually, but in any particular year may be withheld if no suitable paper is decided upon. The award can be given only once in each calendar year.
Presentation	The award shall be presented to the winner by the EIC of the T-Mech at the banquet of the annual IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics.

Nomination Committee:

The EIC of T-Mech, who serves on the committee as non-voting Ex-officio member, appoints the nominating committee consisting of five Technical Editors.

Selection Committee:

Appointed by the Chair of the Management Committee, the committee will consist of three voting affiliates. The EIC shall serve on the committee as non-voting Ex-officio member. Members of the Selection Committee of the Best Mechatronics Paper Award shall not be eligible for the award.

Evaluation Criteria:

Professional Merit

(40%)

(a) Creativity and originality, as reflected in new insights, interpretations, facts, innovations, methods, applications, etc. (stimulating, informative, enlightening, etc.);

(b) Scientific and professional quality of the research, review, development work, methods of inquiry, etc. (competent, valid, replicable, etc.); and

(c) Scholarship embodied in the presentation, explanations, interpretations, and discussions (researched, documented, balanced, critical, etc.).

Contribution

(40%)

(a) Societal or scientific/technical significance of the topic or problem investigated or expounded (universality, urgency, impact, etc.);

(b) Usefulness of the paper to practicing information professionals (applicability, timeliness, scope, problem-solving value, etc.); and

Presentation Quality (20%)

(a) Readability, effective organization and presentation of concepts, facts, arguments, etc. (structure, logic, persuasiveness, etc.);

(b) Use of clear, concise, comprehensible, and jargon-free language (ease and pleasure of reading); and

(c) Adherence to "Instructions for Contributors" found in the IEEE/ASME Transactions Mechatronics for format, graphics, citations, etc.

Procedure:

Nomination	Nomination Committee provides a list of no more than three finalists to the Chair of Selection Committee along with nominating and supporting letters. A committee member may state that he/she is in favor of not giving the award in the current year.
Selection	Independent from the Editorial Board, the Selection Committee ranks the papers judged by the above evaluation criteria. The Selection Chair compiles an aggregated score for each nominated paper (with a score of five for the top ranked, four for the second ranked, etc.) from the ranked lists; the paper receiving the highest score is selected as the winner. In case of a tie, the two highest scoring papers shall be re-evaluated by Selection Committee members to determine the winning paper.
Decision/ Citation	The Selection Chair shall communicate the Committee's decision to the Chair of the management Committee and the EIC of the T-Mech. The Selection Chair shall provide a 50-250 word abstract, stating why the award was given. This abstract will be used to publicize the award. Material for this abstract can be taken from the voting rationales provided by the members of the Selection Committee. (All letters and correspondence shall be held confidential, but all biographies, votes, and pertinent correspondence shall be preserved by the EIC Office, who will make them available to the succeeding chair upon request.)
Notification	The EIC Office shall notify the winner the decision of the Selection Committee, and the need to attend the Award presentation; and arrange for the certificate/check to be available at the Award presentation.
Publicity	The award shall be publicized through the T-Mech web-site, the T-Mech, and the newsletters of the co-sponsoring society with which the winner is affiliated. In addition, press releases may be sent to the winner's employer suggested by the winner. Publicity is the responsibility of the EIC Office.

Deadlines:

Nomination completed by March 1

Selection completed by May 1

Authors notified: 60 days before the award presentation (AIM conference normally after July 1)