After graduating with honors in physics from Rice University, Dr. Wilson attended the California Institute of Technology to earn a Ph.D. He became involved in radio astronomy through John Bolton, who was building the Owens Valley Radio Observatory. Working with him, Dr. Wilson helped map parts of the Milky Way, which eventually became the basis for his thesis. During this time, he married Elizabeth Rhoads Sawin; they went on to have two sons, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

Dr. Wilson’s thesis project initially focused on hydrogen-line interferometry but pivoted to galactic surveys after some setbacks. John Bolton returned to Australia before he completed his Ph.D., and Maarten Schmidt, who was studying quasars, guided him through the final stages. Dr. Wilson stayed at Caltech for another year as a postdoctoral fellow to finish various projects, working closely with colleagues such as V. Radhakrishnan and B.G. Clark.

In 1963, Dr. Wilson joined Bell Laboratories at Crawford Hill, working with Dr. Arno Penzias on radio astronomy subjects.  They used equipment developed for Projects Echo and Telstar such as the Crawford Hill, Horn Antenna which they modified for precision radio astronomy measurements.  In 1965, they announced the discovery of radiation which originated in the big Bang, the Cosmic Microwave Background. After the creation of Comsat led to reduced space research, he and Dr. Penzias took on other projects, including a propagation experiment using a carbon dioxide laser and designing a device called the Sun Tracker.

In 1969, they shifted to millimeter-wave astronomy and made significant discoveries, including large amounts of carbon monoxide in a molecular cloud behind the Orion Nebula. This opened up the study of interstellar molecular clouds where new stars are formed. In 1976, they completed a millimeter-wave facility at Crawford Hill for both radio astronomy and satellite monitoring. Dr. Wilson directed the project, overseeing the antenna’s design and construction.

In 1978, Drs. Wilson and Penzias received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the CMB.

Since he retired from Bell Laboratories in 1994, Dr. Wilson has been a Senior Scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics where he is helping develop new instrumentation for the Sub Millimeter Array on Maunakea, HI. Today, Dr. Wilson lives in Holmdel, New Jersey. He balances his professional pursuits with family life, finding joy in both work and leisure.

Goutam Chattopadhyay is a Senior Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (Caltech)and a Visiting Professor at Caltech, Pasadena. He has been a BEL Distinguished Visiting Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India and an Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Caltech, Pasadena, in 2000. He is a Fellow of IEEE (USA) and IETE (India), Track Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, and the President-Elect for IEEE MTT-S for 2024.

His research interests include microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz receiver systems and radars, and the development of space instruments for the search for life beyond Earth.

Dr. Chattopadhyay has more than 375 publications in international journals and conferences and holds more than twenty patents. He also received more than 35 NASA technical achievement and new technology invention awards. He received the NASA-JPL People Leadership Award in 2023, IEEE Region-6 Engineer of the Year Award in 2018, Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), India in 2017.

He was the recipient of the Best Journal Paper award in 2020 and 2013 by IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, the Best Paper Award for antenna design and applications at the European Antennas and Propagation Conference (EuCAP) in 2017, and IETE Prof. S. N. Mitra Memorial Award in 2014 and IETE Biman Bihari Sen Memorial Award in 2022.

Professor Jim Breakall, WA3FET, received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He has over 50 years of experience in numerical electromagnetics and antennas. He was a Project Engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL-Livermore, CA), and an Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPGS-Monterey, CA). He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Penn State.

Dr. Breakall began his career as a graduate student at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, working on antenna analysis and radar probing of the ionosphere. At LLNL, he and his group worked on the development of the Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC), the first sophisticated antenna modeling program. Other significant projects that he has worked on were the designs of the HAARP facility in Alaska, both HF facilities at Arecibo, and the Kinstar low profile AM broadcast antenna. Dr. Breakall (electrical) and Tim Duffy (mechanical) designed the very popular Ham Radio Skyhawk Yagi antenna, and Dr. Breakall is the inventor of the Optimized Wideband Antenna (OWA).

Dr. Breakall is a member of several IEEE societies, Eta Kappa Nu, International Union of Radio Science Commission B, and the IEEE Wave Propagation and Standards Committee. He has been an editor for several journals. He is a frequent speaker at the Dayton Hamvention Antenna Forum.

Dr. Breakall received the RCA Sarnoff Citation and is a Life Fellow of IEEE and a RCA Fellow. He serves as an RCA director and as the Co-Chairman and later Chairman of the RCA Technical Symposiums. He also serves on the RCA Scholarship Committee, Education Committee and Awards Committee, and Innovation Council.

Mr. Vulcano is a Master Training Specialist (MTS) with over 24 years of technician training experience, specializing in SIGINT, Cyber Operations, Electronic Warfare, and leadership. He is a dedicated instructor and course manager, responsible for graduating more than 2,200 cryptologic warfare officers and 150 enlisted cryptologic technicians.

He is currently serving as an instructor for the Cryptologic Warfare Officer Basic Course (CWOBC). He is an award-winning professional with accolades including CIWT Pensacola Instructor of the Year and IWTC Corry Station Civilian of the Year. He is responsible for creating the Station Hypo BLOG that celebrates the history of Navy Cryptology and keeps the members of the community up to date on current events and developments.

He is dedicated to the advancement and preservation of the history of U.S. Naval Cryptology, staffing the Command Display at Corry Station, which houses artifacts and documents related to the Cryptologic community dating back to WWII.

He authored the Cryptologic Warfare Officer's Guide, a document that can be found on every cryptologic capable ship in the fleet. This document has had the largest impact on the cryptologic community outside of Station Hypo.

Ross Merlin is an HF radio specialist with NVIS Communications LLC after retiring from a long career in the U.S. federal government. His federal career included many aspects of LMR and HF radio communications such as emergency response and operations, regulation, spectrum management, technical support, and program management.

As Telecommunications and Information Resources Manager of the National Disaster Medical System his experience responding to major disasters led him to create the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide (NIFOG), used nationwide by public safety, military, and other emergency communications specialists. At FEMA he led the Wireless Program Management Office which included the FEMA National Radio SYSTEM (FNARS) and served as FEMA’s Spectrum Manager.

After serving as DHS Spectrum Manager, where his work included policy and regulatory matters, he joined the DHS Office of Emergency Communications (OEC, now Emergency Communications Division, ECD), providing technical assistance nationwide through the Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program (ICTAP). From 2015-2021 at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), he was the Program Manager of the SHAred RESources High Frequency Radio Program (SHARES). The SHARES program provides common radio channels and procedures, as well as a nationwide HF email system, to support interoperable emergency communications for all levels of government as well as critical infrastructure and key resources.

Mike Molnar has been an electronic hobbyist since grade school and this interest carried on through his time as an undergraduate in Physics and Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. He started his own company, Diagnostic Services Inc., manufacturing custom nuclear medicine imaging equipment in 1984. He has been designing and building nuclear medicine gamma cameras since then. These specialized instruments are used for veterinary diagnostic imaging in clinics and universities around the world, ranging from feline thyroid scans to equine bone scans.

Mike also enjoys the world of vintage radios and television. He is a founding member of the New Jersey Antique Radio Club and is a member of the Early Television Foundation where he edits their newsletter. Mike is a long-time member of the AWA and was named a fellow in 2023. He has published numerous in-depth historical articles in the AWA Review. Mike has been a prolific writer for the AWA Review. He researches and writes about radio history, and he has given several presentations at annual AWA Conferences. He served as a primary source for research regarding the 2024 IEEE Milestone celebrating the development of the Neutrodyne Circuit at Stevens Institute. Mike received the AWA’s Taylor Award in 2019 for documentation to preserve television history and the Robert Murray Award in 2021 for excellence in research and publications.

Mr. Reubenstein is a retired Manufacturer’s Representative. He graduated from California State University, Los Angeles and Northridge and worked in the Photo-Voltaics engineering laboratory Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena.

After serving in the U.S. Army, he held positions as a sales and marketing manager at Standard Communications, Dynatel Communications, TPL Communications, and Standard Communications. He formed Aurora Marketing Company in Denver in 1977, selling it in 2016. He served as president of Radio Funding Inc. from 1987-92. 

He is the co-founder of the Communications Marketing Association, serving as past president and executive committee member. Mr. Reubenstein received the CMA’s Representative of the Year Award, Pioneer Award, and Foundation Award.

He is a member of APCO, ARRL Life Member (receiving the 1971 Public Service Award), Antique Wireless Association, Denver Area Council BSA (Silver Beaver Recipient 2011), QCWA (Life Member). He is a Fellow, Life Member, director, and previous officer of the Radio Club of America, serving as vice president, executive vice president and president.  He received RCA’s Special Service Award and the Barry Goldwater Award.

Dr. Morimi Iwama worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1961 to 1994. He served as Executive Director of Switching Systems and later as Chief Technical Officer and Vice President in the Switching Systems Business Unit of AT&T from 1992 to 1994, where he was responsible for technology planning and development.

Dr. Iwama earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined AT&T Bell Labs in 1961 after a brief tenure as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley. Dr. Iwama made significant contributions to numerous projects and programs, including communication technologies and systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as commercial communication technologies. He has a long history of promoting international collaboration on matters related to communication technologies. He is also known for his contributions to the development of the control system used for the giant horn antenna at the Andover Earth Station, as part of the Telstar Project.

Dr. Iwama has published numerous internal studies and articles for Bell Labs and AT&T, and has authored many reports for the U.S. Department of Defense. His publicly available works include articles in the Bell System Technical Journal, AT&T Technical Journal, Proceedings of the IEEE, IEEE Communications Magazine, Automatica, as well as several conference presentations.

Dr. Nathan Cohen (“Chip”) is the founder and CEO of Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc. He is a physicist, radio astronomer, and innovator/inventor. Dr. Cohen possesses a broad scope of knowledge across many fields, which has led him down many roads throughout his career. Research and/or professorial positions held include the following institutions: Harvard; MIT; Cornell; NAIC (Arecibo); NASA-JPL and Ames; and Boston University(BU). Dr. Cohen was the Cornell Ph.D. student of RCA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Dr. Frank Drake, and his thesis: “Milliarcsecond Morphology of the Twin Quasar: The View Through a Gravitational Lens,” Cornell Ph.D., 1985 employed very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) for the first detailed evidence of a gravitational lens—a hot topic now in astronomy. He is a retired professor of Science and Engineering at BU; spent time as a Quant trader on Wall Street with a seat on the AMEX; is a songwriter in the music business; a SETI pioneer; and is a published science trade book author. Dr. Cohen is perhaps most noted for his contributions to the field of electromagnetics and has authored over 120 technical papers, three books, and was awarded 94 issued U.S. patents. He is the inventor of fractal antennas and resonators, fractal metamaterials, and the invisibility cloak, conducting basic and applied research on same, and holds the source patents in these fields. The first public demonstration of the invisibility cloak was presented at the RCA Technical Symposium in 2012. In 2017, Dr. Cohen demonstrated “Fractal Metamaterials and the New Class of Directional Antennas” at RCA Technical Symposium. Dr. Cohen is an RCA Fellow and received RCA’s Lee DeForest and Alfred Grebe Awards. He is a former RCA Vice President.

René Stiegler was an electrical engineer, prominent radio amateur, radio personality, broadcast engineer and pioneer in the fields of land mobile radio and marine communications. When he was ten years old he was recognized by the ARRL as the youngest ham to ever receive the general class license. Amateur radio then became his lifelong passion.

As a successful inventor and entrepreneur he founded wireless technology companies and held several wireless technology patents. He served as the president of the Maritime Mobile Service Net for over twenty five years, the world’s oldest continuously operating amateur radio net. René founded Shipcom, LLC with Robert S. Block in 2002, which purchased and operated Public Coast Station WLO in Mobile, Alabama. The station received and transmitted tens of thousands of messages from commercial vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oceans using both voice and data technologies.

As a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, René used station WLO to help coordinate helicopter rescue and air traffic control during Hurricane Katrina after U.S. Coast Guard facilities in Mobile and New Orleans were temporarily rendered out of service by the storm. René and Shipcom received a special commendation by the Commandant of the Coast Guard for their “Assistance to the Gulf Coast And facilitating the rescuing of over 33,000 lives in the stricken Gulf region”. In 2005 he was recognized by FEMA “to acknowledge exemplary volunteer efforts of the MMSN during preparation for rescue and recovery from hurricane Katrina and Rita. Your skilled communicators were directly responsible for saving lives of your fellow citizens”.

He received a letter of commendation from Navy MARS as the Float and Overseas Operations Network member of the year in 1997 for “Your professional achievement, dedication, and significant contributions to the continuing success of the Navy Marine Corps Military Affiliate Radio System…You provide a valuable service to your community and country.” 

At a young age, Charles Kirmuss worked as a technician on the Canadarm for the Space Shuttle in 1978. He served as CEO of a General Electric Technology Division in Canada in 1985 and a CEO for Garda Security Technology in 1989. He was a CTO and Product Manager for several technology companies. He pioneered stationary and fixed station streaming Digital Video and Audio Recording Technology from 1991-2006. As a volunteer search team member in 2006, he pioneered real-time over-the-radio and cell phone GPS tracking and situational awareness. He manages and seeks out technology transfers between Korean and Chinese Mainland Technology leaders/incubators with market channel sales professionals. He has presented on technology and IP matters including new trends in electronics at the annual Global Sources Electronics Show in Hong Kong since 2007, and now at global audio events.

He is known for introducing both mobile and fixed digital video and audio recording and transmission and analog image transmission over cellular in 1989. He developed GPS situational awareness for first responders with a patented NMEA data string with text messaging over analog radio and cellular in 2005. Charles has now ventured into the field of record groove restoration. His advances in methods to care for both vinyl and Edison Cylinder recordings are receiving global attention. His company, Kirmuss Audio, is recognized as the only organization capable of producing a process and machine that cleans and restores recording grooves.

Charles is a Director and Fellow of the Radio Club of America and serves as the Awards Chair, and he is an active sponsor and volunteer for the RCA Youth Program. He is a past recipient of the RCA Special Service Award.

Alan Spindel (AG4WK) is the Senior Electrical Engineer for Ten-Tec/Alpha RF Systems in Dayton, Ohio.  He develops hardware and firmware for digital HF radio data modems. He trained at the University of Tennessee and has over twenty-five years of professional experience in the telecom industry. He has worked as a broadcaster, professional tower climber, design engineer, and engineering manager.

As the principal systems engineer of Mobile Marine Radio/Intrado/ShipCom LLC, Mr. Spindel automated the operation of one of the world’s largest commercial HF radio facilities. He was the principal engineer for the deployment of a nationwide HF radio emergency network for Public Safety Access Points (PSAPS). As a senior project manager for Smartower Systems he developed active cell tower monitoring systems. He has served as the CTO of ITG since 2005, designing interoperable radio system hardware for public safety and military customers. He is active in volunteer emergency communications and has served as the Rutherford County, Tennessee, ARES Net Manager for nearly two decades.

Mr. Spindel spearheaded the complete historical research, analysis, and summary of the Radio Club of America’s (RCA) decades-old scholarship program. He restructured and consolidated most of the old funds into a single operating scholarship fund, the Captain Bill Finch RCA-Legacy Scholarship Fund, while coordinating with the Finch family and various RCA board members. He is also instrumental in implementing the New Century Fund to promote current scholarship award programs.

Mr. Spindel is chair of RCA Scholarship Committee, and he was named an RCA Fellow in 2019. He received the 2021 RCA President’s Award and is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Tucker Dunham, KD2JPM, earned his amateur radio license in 2015. He presented in Carole Perry’s Youth Forum at the Dayton Hamvention in 2018 and again at the RCA Technical Symposium in 2018.

In 2019, Tucker began attending Rochester Institute of Technology. He will be receiving a B.S. in Microelectronic Engineering in December 2024. At RIT, he has held internship positions at four different companies: Menlo Micro, Advanced Energy, Sony Electronics, and the RIT Semiconductor and Nanofabrication Laboratory.

In addition to ham radio, Tucker’s other interests include astrophotography, building telescopes, restoring vintage motorcycles, and cooking.

Michael Kalter provides executive coaching, strategic planning, operational strategy, sales leadership, and rescue plans. His work drives cultural change seeking a collaborative balance between accountability and empowerment. 

He was formerly President, COO, and owner of Behm Quartz Industries and Vice President and General Manager at AMSEA Fineblanking LLC, and previously worked at NUMMI (a joint venture between Toyota and GM). He is a founding member of the Sunrise Alliance.

He is an avid supporter of amateur radio and RCA, leading the restructuring and rebuilding of the Dayton Hamvention that serves more than 34,000 participants annually. Michael is a member of the RCA board of directors and a past recipient of the Barry Goldwater Award.

Becky entered public-safety in 1997 and has been responsible for installing CAD, radio, phone, and recording systems, and CPE equipment for managing all aspects of call-handling and radio dispatching processes and procedures.

She became an APCO Basic Public Safety Telecommunicator Course instructor and a full APCO member in 2001. Since that time, she has been actively involved in APCO at the local and international level. From 2009-2016, she served as the Alabama Executive Council Representative when she was elected as the Gulf Coast Region Board of Directors Representative for two terms.

Becky holds several certifications and was honored as a Certified Public-Safety Executive from APCO International. Becky is currently the 911 Director for the Autauga County Emergency Communications District in Prattville, Alabama. In August 2023, she became the 88th President of APCO International.

Mr. Nichols is the Executive Director of the Project 25 Technology Interest Group (PTIG). He has led the organization for the last 11 years. PTIG is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and application of the Project 25 (P25) digital radio Standard for Land Mobile Radio technology.  PTIG’s members include radio users, manufacturers, and consultants involved with the development and operation of P25 Public Safety, Government and Critical Infrastructure radio systems.

In December of 2013 he retired from Thales Defense and Security, Inc. Mr. Nichols had been with Thales for 16 years leading business development activities for the company’s Project 25 radio product lines, including the industry’s first multi-band multi-mode Land Mobile Radio.  A graduate of Syracuse University, he has more than 40 years of experience in Land Mobile and Public Safety Radio through various product and business development positions, having worked for Thales, its predecessor organization Racal, as well as EF Johnson, Bendix King, Uniden, RELM, and Hy-Gain Electronics.  Some of the notable radio products that he has helped develop include: the Hy-Gain remote control CB radio, Regency direction-finding VHF Marine radio, Uniden Cordless flip-Phone, Bendix-King 136-174 MHz VHF portable with keypad programming & cloning, Racal 25 submersible portable, and the Thales Liberty Multi-band Multi-mode P25 radio.

Mr. Nichols is a member of The Radio Club of America, APCO, IACP, IAFC, a previous member of the APCO Commercial Advisory Board, a contributor to NPSTC, and has represented numerous manufacturers at the TIA TR-8 standards meetings.  He has developed and led over 50 Project 25 technology related panels at IWCE, APCO and first responder conferences. He is a recipient of the Radio Club’s Edgar F. Johnson Pioneer Citation.

Howard Rosen is a self-taught inventor and entrepreneur. He spent significant time as a child interested in electronics and was licensed as an amateur radio operator in 1972.

He has over 83 patents including the first video compact disk (vcd), and binary scanners marketed as V28 electronics kits. He next designed prototype dish antennas and radio receivers in the 1980s and moved on to other inventions, such as telephone caller ID blockers, switching systems, RF based cancer treatment technologies, mobile self-management medical systems, and HVAC RF controls.

In 2018, he established the Howard (VE2AED) and Micheline (KM6FOH) Rosen Fund to support RCA’s operations.

Dr. Urbina is a full professor of electrical engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering who has worked in radar design, digital systems and space instrumentation, analog design, software designed radio and radars, radio wave propagation, meteor detection, system integration, radio wave remote sensing and radar studies of the atmosphere and ionosphere.

He has received numerous awards and was selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2024-25 academic year, conducting research and teaching in Lima, Peru. He is an RCA board member and has served on the RCA Technical Symposium Committee and RCA Awards Committee for many years.