It’s
hard to believe it’s that time of year again! The R&D 100 Awards
has increasingly become a year-round event for
R&D Magazine’s
editors. In the fall, even as we present the year’s winners with their
awards at a black-tie event in Florida, we have already opened the doors
online for the next year’s entries.
As
the awards grow in size, and our coverage online grows more extensive,
we find ourselves reaching out more frequently for the expertise of
professionals working in high-technology fields. This isn’t surprising.
We’ve been collecting more entries over the past few years, and,
increasingly, the products we evaluate are highly innovative, complex,
and require the knowledgeable of someone who has experience in a given
field, whether it’s live cell imaging, metals, spectrometers, or solar
cells. In fact, the number of technology categories we do evaluate has
grown from 17 or 18 in 2007 to a full 20 in 2012. We fully expect that,
as we mark off a full half-century of the leading awards program for
industry-wide innovation, we will require more help than ever.
At
the same time, judges have less time then ever before as the demands of
life leave little time for reading a lot of entry material. Over the
past few years, the R&D’s editors have worked hard to streamline the
judging process so that, aside from reading the entry, it only requires
a quick download of the entry form and the completion of simple, secure
online survey. This leaves judges to spend the majority of their time
absorbing the entry material, whether this encompasses videos, patent
information, or simply the entry form itself. The survey method is a
great help to editors as well, as it allows them to quickly hone in on
stand-out technologies and truly begin the evaluation process.
Even
if you have just an hour or two on the weekend, consider spending some
time helping us find the top 100. We expect to receive plenty of entries
for each of the 20 technology fields we review for these awards. With
your commitment to judge new products in your field of expertise, we can
quickly reach 100 winners.
2012 R&D 100 Awards Judge Application Form
