1. Starting in 2010 we will have two top awards presented during the HENAAC Awards Show: the Engineer of the Year along with the new Scientist of the Year. Both top award winners will be featured on the cover of TECHNICA Magazine and will each receive full articles on their journey. More information can be found under the 2010 Professional Recognition HENAAC Awards Category descriptions.
   


2. Due to an increase in the number of military nominees we will be hosting our first "Salute to Our STEM Military Heroes" on Thursday, October 7th in the early evening. This event will feature many of the military award recipients and the military Luminaries. In addition these military award winners will also have photos featured during the Friday evening award show. Please note, selected top military award winners and their presenters will still be addressing the audience on stage during the Friday award show.


3. Due to the increase in the number of corporate and government nominees we will bestow more professional awards at the "STEM Awards Tribute Breakfast" on Friday, October 8th. This breakfast will feature the presentation and acceptance speeches for the following award categories: Diversity, Community Service, Most Promising Engineers-Graduate & Undergraduate, Most Promising Scientist- Graduate & Undergraduate and Education. Additionally, all of these winners will have photos featured during the Friday evening award show.
   


4. The 22nd Annual HENAAC Awards Show will remain the evening of Friday, October 8th and will feature the presentation and acceptance speeches for the following award categories: Engineer of the Year, Scientist of the Year, Executive Excellence, Outstanding Technical Achievement, Lifetime Achievement, Entrepreneur, Civil Engineering, Information Technology and Professional Achievement. All awards presented at earlier events will be showcased on the video screens throughout the show however only the above categories will be on stage. This change will allow the production team more opportunities to integrate entertainment and videos to enhance the excitement and shorten the length of the award show.

The key reason for the change is due to the increased number of outstanding professional nominations across all sectors. As Hispanics have increased their participation in STEM careers the organization finds itself with many more role models to showcase to our country. In order to capture and honor these individuals the HENAAC Conference has expanded the number of recognition events taking place over the 3 days. All Award Winners and Luminaries will still be featured in TECHNICA magazine in the traditional professional way we have over the years.

We believe the HENAAC Awards will only increase in value. The July Selection Committee will remain a peer reviewed process and the committees will be able to recommend more awards in their category due to the increased opportunities to showcase worthy nominees. Also, with executives presenting the awards during the other strategic events both the executives and winners will have more time to speak to the audience comprised of their industry peers.

The additional recognition venues will increase the podium speaking opportunities available for participation executives that have award winners and may even allow some entities the opportunity to have more than one executive be involved in the presenting process throughout the conference.

The changes will not affect Corporate and Government Luminaries. They will continue to be the featured honorees during the Friday Luminaries Recognition Event. Military Luminaries will be featured at our "Salute to our STEM Military Heros" event.