On Monday 4 December 2023, eleven experts holding the Chair or Secretariat of a CEN and CENELEC Technical Committee (TC) were celebrated at the CEN and CENELEC Technical Body Officer Awards. The ceremony took place in CEN and CENELEC’s Brussels headquarters.
More than 90.000 standardization experts coming from all around Europe are regularly active in CEN and CENELEC’s Technical Committees (TCs). They shape the standards that improve the lives of millions of citizens, as well as contribute to strengthening the European economy.
Every two years, the Technical Body Officer (TBO) Awards celebrate their important contribution to European standards by paying tribute to a selection of Technical Body Chairs and Secretaries. All awardees foster standardization advances in their specific sector of expertise, build consensus among the experts, unblock difficult situations, and increase the efficiency of the standardization system.
At the 2023 ceremony, CEN President Stefano CALZOLARI presented awards to five CEN technical body officers:
- Mr Manuel REIMER, Chair of CEN/TC 445 ‘Digital Information Interchange in the Insurance Industry’
- Mr Cliff CORK, Chair of CEN/TC 256 ‘Railway applications’
- Mrs Christine ROQUES, Chair of CEN/TC 216 ‘Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics’
- Mrs Jenny ACARALP, Secretary of CEN/TC 293 ‘Assistive products and accessibility’
- Mrs Bernadette RUETSCH, Secretary of CEN/TC 144 ‘Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry’.
Five awardees were also announced for CENELEC and presented by CENELEC President Wolfgang NIEDZIELLA:
- Mr Alain ROUSSEAU, Chair of CLC/TC 37A ‘Low voltage surge protective devices’ and CLC/TC 81X ‘Lightning protection’
- Mr Norbert SCHAAF, Chair of CLC/TC 79 ‘Alarm systems’ (in memoriam)
- Mr Alberto SIANI, Chair of CLC/TC121A ‘Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear’ (in memoriam)
- Mrs Annette FREDERIKSEN, Secretary of CLC/TC 76 ‘Optical radiation safety and laser equipment’
- Mr Giovanni CASSINELLI, the Secretary of CLC/TC 23E ‘Circuit breakers and similar devices for household and similar applications’.
The ceremony was also an occasion to announce the winner of the fourth edition of the Standards + Innovation award for Technical Body Officers. This is a special biennial award presented to a CEN and CENELEC technical body officer (Secretary, Chair, or Convenor) who actively and successfully collaborated with researchers/innovators within their technical body.
This year the award went to Aitor ARAGÓN, from UNE, the Spanish National Standardization Body. He holds the Secretariat of two recently established CEN Technical Committees: CEN/TC 442/WG 9 ‘Digital twins in the built environment’ and CEN/TC 371/WG 5 ‘Operational rating of energy performance of buildings’.
Mr Aragón was awarded for his role in integrating innovative topics into standardization: he has been responsible for shaping, launching and managing new standardization activities directly related to R&I projects outcomes.
CEN President Stefano Calzolari commented, in presenting the awards: “Each one of today’s awardees is a successful example of the best values of the European Standardization System: its inclusiveness, transparency and consensus-based approach; and its ability to find solution through patience, skills and knowledge. These are very important values, which give its strength to Europe and will allow us to contribute to a sustainable, competitive and resilient Europe”.
CENELEC President Wolfgang Niedziella added: “Today’s awardees all share characteristics that will be key in meeting current and future challenges. Indeed, the European standardization community has a big role to play in determining Europe’s future: new technologies have always needed standards. Thanks to the example of today’s awardees, we can be sure that we will be able to provide decisive support to the EU’s digital and green transition for the years to come”.
All pictures of the 2023 ceremony are available here.
The ceremony after movie is here.
