Mr. Clyde Ward (left) receiving award from Division Chair Dr. Kwan Kwok
Long-standing ANS Member and former Robotics and Remote Systems Division Chair, Mr. Clyde Ward, was presented the Ray Goertz Award for 2006 at the recent 11th International Topical Conference on Robotics and Remote Systems for Hazardous Environments. The Ray Goertz Award was established in 1985 to recognize and honor ANS Robotics and Remote Systems Division members who have made outstanding contributions to the field of remote technology. It honors the late Raymond C. Goertz for his lifetime contribution to the advancement of remote handling systems and for his development of the master / slave manipulator. This award is presented only every two years, is the highest honor presented by the division and includes a $2,500 monetary award.
Mr. Ward was elected to the Executive Committee of the RRSD from 1990-93, and he was re-elected for a term from 1994-1996. He served as Secretary in 1995, as the Vice Chair in 1996, and as the Division Chair in 1997. In addition, he was the Publications Chair for the 1989 3rd Topical Meeting on Robotics and Remote Systems and again as the Publications Chair of the 1997 7th Topical Meeting on Robotics and Remote Systems.
Mr. Ward is a mechanical engineer with 30 years of expertise in robotics and remote systems. He has led diverse technical teams in the development of state-of-the-art robotic systems and remote systems. Mr. Ward was responsible for over $20,000,000 of development for the Savannah River National Laboratory in the past 15 years and has authored over 30 papers in the field.
Some of Mr. Ward’s specific achievements include being responsible for the development of the Canister Decontamination System for the Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site. He developed remote mobile robots that performed a variety of tasks including removal of highly contaminated junction boxes in order to prevent exposure to personnel. Mr. Ward was selected by Los Alamos National Laboratory to lead the Robotics/Remote Operations efforts for the Accelerator Production of Tritium. He served as the remote handling lead of the DOE Plutonium Immobilization Project. He led a team of individuals across the DOE complex in the development of an ASTM guide for Material Handling in Hot Cells. He developed remote crawlers that were deployed in hot cells and in high level waste tanks.
Mr. Ward has also offered his time and remote handling talents outside of the workplace. He was the Team Leader for “Jabberwock” a heavy-weight battlebot that reached a ranking of 17th in the world in just two competitions and was shown on national TV. He has been the mechanical mentor for the Aiken County FIRST Robotics Team since its inception in 2002. In these efforts, Clyde has mentored over a 100 high school students in science and engineering education and helped to brighten their futures.
Congratulations to Mr. Clyde Ward.
