The SPEC Achievement Awards
To accomplish its goals, SPEC relies on many volunteers who come from vendors,
universities, research labs and other member organizations. While most of our
volunteers are paid by their organizations to work with SPEC, many go above
and beyond to ensure SPEC remains a premier organization that regularly makes
vital new contributions to our industry.
SPEC acknowledges these members through its annual awards program, which
includes three awards honoring different types of contribution, as well
as the Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award selected by a
special SPEC Research Group (SPEC/RG) committee.
The SPEC Presidential Award
This is SPEC's highest honor, recognizing one person annually who has
provided outstanding service and leadership to SPEC over a significant
period of time.
This year's SPEC Presidential Award recognizes someone who has served
SPEC for more than 15 years as a very active board member and founder
and main organizer of two SPEC groups and two SPEC committees.
The Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award
The Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation
Award, named in memory of SPEC's long-time president Kaivalya Dixit, honors
outstanding dissertations within the scope of the SPEC Research Group. The
award encompasses a diverse range of entries, including the design of metrics
for system evaluation as well as the development of methodologies, techniques
and tools for measurement, load testing, profiling, workload characterization,
dependability, and efficiency evaluation of computing systems.
The SPECtacular Award
This award is for individuals who have significantly
exceeded expectations in their contributions to SPEC during the course of the
last year or over several years. It is typically given to someone who has led
development of a new benchmark or tool, or has made extraordinary contributions
to a SPEC committee.
The SPEC Contributor Award
This award is given to individuals or a team that
made significant contributions to bringing a new benchmark, tool, project or
event to a successful conclusion.
Special Recognition
This year SPEC presented Special Recognition to Bob Cramblitt,
who recently retired after nearly 30 years of dedication to SPEC as our organization''s
PR firm. Bob devoted himself to building the SPEC brand and positioning SPEC products as
quintessential tools for system builders and IT buyers. Bob will be deeply missed as a
core part of the SPEC family, but his extraordinary work has left an indelible mark on
SPEC and our industry that will guide us toward a future filled with better benchmarks.
The 2020 SPEC Achievement Awards