30 Aug 11. Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Neil G. Siegel, vice president and chief engineer of the company’s Information Systems sector, was awarded the 2011 IEEE Simon Ramo Medal for his pioneering work in systems engineering during a ceremony at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis on Aug. 20. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional association. Siegel was selected for the IEEE Simon Ramo Medal, which honors exceptional achievement in systems engineering and systems science, for his pioneering work “that led to the successful development of the digital battlefield, a life-saving and integral part of U.S. Army operations,” according to IEEE.
Along with receiving the medal, Siegel was also named an IEEE Fellow, an honor revered in the technical world and the association’s highest grade of membership.
“By bringing information technology and wireless communications to the battlefield, Siegel has revolutionized the military’s response to the war on terror and most importantly has saved lives of U.S. and allied forces,” stated IEEE.
Siegel is being honored for his work in leading Northrop Grumman to become the world leader in battlefield digitization. Battlefield digitization achieves force multiplication through improved situational awareness, improved operational tempo and decreased mission timelines. The resulting product – Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below, also known as the “FBCB2” and the “Blue-Force Tracker (BFT)” – is deployed on tens of thousands of U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps vehicles worldwide, including in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. In his present role, Siegel leads the sector’s technology and engineering group and is responsible for spearheading development of engineering solutions for customers’ most complex and important problems. Siegel also leads engineering process improvement, oversees research programs and organizes the development to the company’s top technical talent.