For the past 20 years HENAAC has been honoring the nation's best and brightest engineers, scientists and technology experts who happen to be Hispanic. A core mission of HENAAC is to highlight and showcase outstanding role models to inspire young people to pursue careers in technology and to motivate professionals to continue to connect with the Hispanic community. HENAAC winners represent the best in their field and it is not just HENAAC saying so. All HENAAC winners are judged by a Selection Committee that is comprised of professionals from industry, academia and the government. The Selection Committee is also chaired by the Dean of Engineering of the current Academic Host of the HENAAC Conference and all winners are finalized by the Dean. These two features add to the competitiveness and prestige of winning a HENAAC award. Individuals must be truly stellar in their field.

The HENAAC Award winners represent highly accomplished STEM professionals who have achieved both academic and professional success in their respective fields. The purpose of the HENAAC Award nomination process is to highlight and honorthese Hispanic success stories and provide this emerging and still largely untapped segment of our great nation’s population access to these role models in order to motivate more students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

The caliber of HENAAC nominees continues to reflect the highest levels of excellence as more Hispanic STEM professionals advance to the forefront of their organizations. Initiated in 2004 to bring additional role models to our nation, the Luminary Honorees celebrates and recognizes individuals who are leading, collaborating and initiating key programs and research within their respective organizations. Luminary honorees share three common factors: 1) They are highly respected by their peers and management2) They are valuable authorities in their fields 3) They are blazing the trail for future generations of engineers and scientist Individuals cannot be nominated for the Luminary category; they are selected from the submissions received for all of the standard nominations categories.

In the spirit of honoring the best and brightest college students from across the United States HENAAC in conjunction with the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2004 started the tradition of paying special tribute to our nation’s young men and women who not only excel academically but are also dedicating their life to the service and defense of our country by attending a Military Academy. Each year HENAAC & DoD honor one military cadet from each of the service academies; the U.S. Air Force Academy located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy based in New London, Connecticut, the U.S. Military Academy, in West Point, New York, and the U.S. Naval Academy based in Annapolis, Maryland. Entrance requirements are different at each military academy however all cadets compete on a national level for a very limited number of openings. When accepted to one of the academies, all cadets receive government sponsored tuition that includes four years of academic, military, and physical education to prepare them for the leadership as officers in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines or Navy. Upon graduation each cadet will have a minimum service requirement of 4 or 5 years depending on the particular academy regulations. Each of the selected HENAAC Military Academy Cadet Role Models have distinguished themselves academically while pursuing a degree in engineering, science or technical course of study and represent their respective academies with dignity and pride. To learn more about our nation’s service academies please visit the following sites: U.S. Air Force Academy www.usafa.af.mil U.S. Coast Guard Academy www.cga.edu U.S. Military Academy www.usma.edu U.S. Naval Academy www.nadn.navy.mil

HENAAC and the Department of Defense (DoD) are proud to announce the expansion of the cadet awards which will include ROTC cadet honorees in 2009! Similar to the HENAAC Military Academy Cadet Awards, the ROTC cadet honors will be presented to outstanding college students from across the country. Students must be part of the ROTC program and working toward obtaining a degree in science, technology, engineering or math and are participating in his/her campus ROTC program. An ROTC cadet will be selected from each of the service branches. This recognition will allow HENAAC to expand the scope of outstanding individuals to salute! The ROTC cadets’ achievements and future goals will serve to inspire other students to follow in their path. ROTC cadets combine regular classroom curriculum with hands-on experience, and learn leadership and management skills while working toward their degree. This program provides the tools tomorrow’s commissioned officers will draw upon to add to the strength and diversity of our services. To learn more about ROTC programs please visit the following sites: U.S. Air Force ROTC http://www.afrotc.com/ U.S. Army ROTC http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/ U.S. Navy ROTC https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/