The IEEE Dr. James Wong Award for Continuing and Significant Contributions to Applied Superconductor Materials Technology

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconducting materials research, in particular,
for development of Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) method for making textured buffer on flexible metal tapes, paving the way to manufacture HTS tapes in long production length with high mechanical strength required for very high field magnet;
for the first demonstration of ternary phase diagram to provide the correlation between in situ growth conditions and thermodynamic stability criteria for YBCO (ReBCO) superconductor, which showed the liquid process was the key in e-beam RCE and subsequent conversion process; and
for contributions to control of multi-source co-evaporation of superconducting films, making high-throughput, and cost-effective fabrication of HTS wire possible.

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconductivity materials research, in particular:
• for the first demonstration of strong pinning enhancement in YBCO-based thin films for coated conductors (using BaZrO3 nanoparticle additions), followed by proposal and demonstration of further improved pinning using group IV and V elemental additions;
• for the first demonstration of pO2-controlled liquid assisted growth of YBCO conductors, and subsequent advocacy of this method for next 20 + years; and
• for undertaking and applying basic materials science studies to demonstrate novel ways to induce very effective pinning in MgB2 and (Bi,Pb)-2212.

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconductivity materials research, in particular,
• for showing that proximity effect coupling between closely spaced fine filaments in multifilamentary NbTi/Cu composites could be suppressed by the addition of Mn to the Cu matrix,
• for leading the development of NbTi and Nb3Sn Rutherford cables in which cores of selected materials and widths were introduced to control interstrand contact and coupling magnetization,
• for leading a group that developed the world's first HTS Rutherford cable based on Bi:2212/Ag and that went on to produce long lengths of continuously melt processed Nb3Al strand and hence Nb3Al Rutherford cable, and,
• for contributions to the understanding and development of practical MgB2 conductors.

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconductivity materials research, in particular,
• development and industrialization of NbTi and Nb3Sn superconductors for fusion, accelerators, MRI and NMR,
• for contributions to science and technology of NbTi and Nb3Sn conductors resulting in improved conductor performance and industrial manufacturing, and
• for contributions to development and commercialization of Bi-2212 and Bi-2223 wires and tapes.

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconductivity materials research, in particular,
• for his role in achieving engineering current densities of over 3000 A-mm-2 in commercial NbTi at 5 T and 4.2 K,
• for his work in commercializing ‘wire in channel’ conductors to provide the low cost, high copper conductor needed for MRI,
• for his work on RRP internal tin Nb3Sn conductors - the first wire to achieve 3000 A-mm-2 at 12 T and 4.2 K, and
• for developing Bi-2212 round wire, enabling HTS Rutherford cable to be made for future accelerators.

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconducting materials research, in particular,
• for the development of techniques for quantitative digital imaging of defects, flux-pinning sites and chemical composition gradients in niobium-titanium and niobium-3-tin superconductors at all relevant length scales from the atomic to the macroscopic that have enabled significant improvements of their critical current characteristics, and thus enabling conductors to realize the benchmark values of critical current density required for many emerging applications.

For continuing and significant contributions in the field of superconductivity materials research, in particular,
• for his leadership in the world’s first manufacturing and commercialization of second-generation (2G) HTS wires that culminated in the demonstration of the world’s first 2G HTS device in the electric power grid,
• for pioneering numerous technologies in second-generation HTS wires including high throughput thin film deposition processes to fabricate single-crystalline-like films over a kilometer on metal substrates and nanoscale defect engineering for record-high superconductor wire performance, and
• for conceiving and demonstrating a novel melt-texturing technique that yields large single-domain REBaCuO superconductors with world-record critical current performance, which is being used to manufacture bulk superconductors with very large trapped magnetic fields.

For continuing and significant contributions to the development of superconducting materials by advancing the science of both low-temperature and high-temperature superconducting materials, in particular:
• for his many significant theoretical contributions to the electrodynamic behavior of current-carrying superconductors,
• for applying his theoretical understanding to explain the observed behavior in various applications of superconductivity, both large-scale and small-scale,
• for his service as Science Editor of "High-Tc Update" from 1987 to 2000, when he briefly reviewed and summarized the "tsunami" of papers that were written following the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity.

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of superconducting conductors, in particular:

• for his co-discovery of “giant flux creep” and the irreversibility line in high-temperature superconductors (HTS), and applying these vortex physics concepts in developing practical HTS wires and their applications, and,
• for his leadership as Chief Technical Officer of American Superconductor Corporation in developing practical conductors and cables from HTS material for commercial applications.

For significant and sustained contributions in the development of superconducting cables and conductors for magnet applications, in particular
• for directing the development of advanced Mn3Sn conductors and the use of this material in the design, construction and testing of the 50 mm bore Nb3Sn dipole magnet which achieved a world record field of 13.5 tesla,
• for directing the design and construction of a variety of high field (greater than 10 tesla) magnets for accelerator applications, and,
• for developing techniques for fabricating Rutherford- type cables (with up to 60 strands) from Bi-2212 high temperature superconducting wires.