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SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation Awards

See the best and brightest minds acknowledged for their contributions

Recognizing the brightest minds

See the many ways excellence is recognized across multiple disciplines and the various ways innovation and research is acknowledged and celebrated.

Award recipients at SPIE Smart Structures + NDE

SPIE Annual Awards List


The awards presented at Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation represent four categories of excellence across various disciplines:


2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

Join us in congratulating these winners as we acknowledge their contributions to the fields of Smart Structures and Materials and Nondestructive Evaluation and Structural Health Monitoring.


Steven F. Griffin

Boeing LTS Inc. (United States)
Smart Structures and Materials (SSM)
Lifetime Achievement Award

Professional biography


Steven Griffin serves as Chief Engineer at the Maui Space Surveillance System. Dr. Griffin’s areas of expertise include optical/structural line-of-sight modeling, integrated structural acoustic modeling, vibration management, smart structures, composite structures, and structural health monitoring. Prior to joining Boeing, he served as an Air Force civilian and military researcher charged with spacecraft related composite structural research and structural/optical/acoustics research programs.

Michael D. Todd

Univ. of California, San Diego (United States)
Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE)
Lifetime Achievement Award

Professional biography


Michael Todd received his Ph.D. from Duke University's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. Since 2003 he has been with the Structural Engineering Department at the University of California San Diego, where he serves as Distinguished Professor and Chair. His research interests are in ultrasonic and fiber optic structural health monitoring/NDE and decision analytics for SHM/NDE. He has published over 550 journal papers and proceedings. He was  the 2005 SHM Person-of-the-Year Award, the 2016 SEM DeMichele award, and the 2021 SHM Lifetime Achievement Award. He serves on the Advisory Board to the UK Research Centre in Nondestructive Evaluation and is the Managing Editor of Structural Health Monitoring.


Craig F. Bohren Best Student Presentation Award

The Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication conference chairs choose the Best Student Presentation Award from their conference. This award is sponsored by an SPIE Fellow. A cash prize will be given to the first, second, and third place winners.

Craig F. Bohren is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Meteorology at The Pennsylvania State University. An expert on atmospheric optics, his autobiographical paper will no doubt inspire many researchers, young and old alike.

Eligibility requirements:

  • Be a student without a doctoral degree (undergraduate, graduate, or PhD student)
  • Be the presenter of an accepted oral presentation in the Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication conference
  • Have conducted the majority of the work to be presented
  • Present your paper as scheduled at Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation 2024 in Long Beach, CA.

Apply online:

  • Opens 5 December 2023 12:00 AM PT
  • Closes 22 March 2024 11:59 PM PT
  • Sign into https://spie.smapply.io with your SPIE.org account credentials
  • Once you are signed in, go to this application link
  • Click on the “APPLY” button and submit the brief online application

You will be asked to provide your SPIE paper number, paper title, and school information.


Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems Best Student Paper Award

The Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems conference committee will choose the Best Student Paper Award from their conference. Applicants will then submit an extended abstract for review, and selected finalists will present in a special session at the Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation meeting. This award is sponsored by RDI Technologies. A cash prize will be given to the first, second, and third place winners.

Award Sponsor:

OSSC logo

Eligibility requirements:

  • Be a student without a doctoral degree (undergraduate, graduate, or PhD student)
  • Be the presenter of an accepted oral presentation in the Health Monitoring of Structural and Biological Systems conference
  • Have conducted the majority of the work to be presented
  • Submit the final version of your manuscript through your SPIE.org account by 6 March 2024
  • Present your paper as scheduled and at the special session at Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation 2024.

Application now closed.

Review process:

  • The Awards Committee will review applications and extended abstracts, and select finalists to present in the Best Student Paper Session onsite
  • Finalists will be notified by 5 February 2024
  • First, second, and third place winners will be announced at the Wednesday morning plenary.

Award Sponsor:

OSSC logo


EAP-In-Action Demonstration Awards

As part of the Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) conference, the EAP-in-Action Demonstration Session has been held over the past 23 years. New electroactive polymer materials and application areas are continuing to emerge and this session offers up-close demonstrations of EAP materials and devices in action from industry and academia. There is never a dull moment at this session which features everything from early university prototypes to products. The demonstration format enables interaction between the developers and potential users as well as a “hands-on” experience with our emerging technology.

Award certificates will be given to the three best EAP-in-Action demonstrations. The judges will assess the presenters’ performance as well as the quality and content of the demos.

See this year's list of demonstrations to held at the 24th Annual EAP-in-Action Session and Demonstration.