MUMBAI: The winners of the annual ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Awards were announced yesterday at the ABU Technical Committee Meetings in Beijing.

The recipient of the ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award is All India Radio engineer-in-chief Ansu Sekhar Guin, in recognition of his contributions of an outstanding nature in broadcasting engineering and related disciplines at All India Radio and Doordarshan.

Guin is the technical head of All India Radio (AIR), responsible for the management and operational aspects of AIR’s network, according to an official release. He holds the position of president of the Broadcast Engineering Society of India.

In his illustrious career at All India Radio, he has been responsible in the implementation of many new services such as digital radio studio automation, digital video archives, digitalisation of the satellite based networking system and digital audio broadcasting.

The ABU Engineering Industry Excellence Award is conferred on Dr Osamu Yamada for the most outstanding engineering contribution made by an individual to the broadcasting industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr Yamada was NHK Science director general and Technical Research Laboratories in his previous posting and is now senior managing director of Pioneer Corporation.

He played a pioneering role in the setting up of error correction codes in developing a new decoding algorithm for different applications for various broadcasting systems.
He also developed digital transmission systems. He engaged in the development and standardisation of new broadcasting systems such as teletext, FM multiplex broadcasting system (DARC), digital satellite and terrestrial broadcasting systems (ISDB). He also contributed to the work of the ITU-R Study Groups from 1992 to 1997.

“The awards are conferred in appreciation of their dedication and endeavours in the promotion of technical developments in the broadcasting industry. The ABU congratulates Mr Guin and Dr Yamada,” said ABU secretary-general David Astley.

Both awards will be presented at the ABU Prizes awards ceremony on 7 November. Each award comprises a commemorative trophy, a citation and a lifetime 'distinguished observer’ status at ABU Technical Committee meetings, informs the statement.