The Irrigation Association kicked off Smart Irrigation Month by announcing the recipients of its annual awards.
The awards are as following:
INDUSTRY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
- Brent Q. Mecham is a recipient of the 2020 Industry Achievement Award. Mecham has been part of the irrigation industry for more than 45 years and recently retired as the IA’s industry development director, a position he held since 2007. Mecham was a major part of the success of the certification and education programs, taught irrigation courses for over 20 years, and has been extensively involved in the standard and codes process for irrigation equipment and practices.
- Lynda Wightman is a recipient of the 2020 Industry Achievement Award. Wightman retired from Hunter Industries after 35 years with the company. She was the 13th employee hired at Hunter and spent her career focused on elevating the industry through volunteer leadership and education. Wightman served on the boards of numerous landscape organizations.
INNOVATOR AWARD:
- Stephen W. Smith is 2020’s Innovator Award recipient. Smith is being recognized for his work toward the creation and development of the Irrigation Innovation Consortium located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The IIC represents years of work and dedication by Smith to secure the monetary support and public and private participation to see this project from the initial concept to what it is today.
EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AWARD:
- The 2020 Excellence in Education Award recipient is Isaya Kisekka of the University of California, Davis. He is currently an associate professor of agricultural water management and irrigation engineering and associate irrigation engineer. Kisekka was instrumental in reviving the irrigation curriculum at UC Davis. He co-led the creation of three new irrigation courses and the modification of one old course. This effort resulted in creation of an irrigation and water management minor available to students from different majors.
VANGUARD AWARD:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Sensor-Based VRI SCADA Management project has been named the recipient of the 2020 Vanguard Award. Through partnerships, this project utilized the patented Irrigation Scheduling Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system and sensing systems to provide a decision support system that could produce the time varying prescription maps needed by variable rate irrigation center pivot control panels. The partners in this project include the USDA-ARS Soil and Water Management Research Unit in Bushland, Texas (project lead); Beltsville, Texas, ARS team; Acclima Inc.; Dynamax Inc.; and Valley Irrigation.
