The SPEC Achievement Awards
To accomplish its goals, SPEC relies on many volunteers who come from vendors, universities, research labs and other member organizations. While most of our volunteers are paid by their organizations to work with SPEC, many go above and beyond to ensure SPEC remains a premier organization that regularly makes vital new contributions to our industry.
SPEC acknowledges these members through its annual awards program, which includes three awards honoring different types of contribution, as well as the Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award selected by a special SPEC Research Group (SPEC/RG) committee.
The SPEC Presidential Award
This is SPEC's highest honor, recognizing one person annually who has provided outstanding service and leadership to SPEC over a significant period of time.
This year's SPEC Presidential Award recognizes someone who has spent more than 30 years on a quest to make SPEC better. But it isn't just the time or the number of roles he's held at SPEC that sets him apart. It's the unique perspective he brings to every engagement. As he likes to say, "My job is to keep reminding CPU architects that as challenging as SPEC CPU may be, the real world is full of even uglier problems."
The Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award
The Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award, named in memory of SPEC's long-time president Kaivalya Dixit, honors outstanding dissertations within the scope of the SPEC Research Group. The award encompasses a diverse range of entries, including the design of metrics for system evaluation as well as the development of methodologies, techniques and tools for measurement, load testing, profiling, workload characterization, dependability, and efficiency evaluation of computing systems.
The 2023 Kaivalya Dixit Distinguished Dissertation Award Winner
The SPECtacular Award
This award is for individuals who have significantly exceeded expectations in their contributions to SPEC during the course of the last year or over several years. It is typically given to someone who has led development of a new benchmark or tool, or has made extraordinary contributions to a SPEC committee.
The SPEC Impact Award
This award is given to individuals or a team that made significant contributions to a Group or a Committee.
Special Recognition
This year SPEC presented Special Recognition to SPEC's Dianne Rice, Operations and Administration Services Manager, and Jason Glick, IT Manager, who have spent 30 and 25 years, respectively, dedicating themselves to making SPEC a better organization.
As SPEC's Operations and Administration Services Manager, Dianne is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization — managing finances, fielding support and sales, arranging face-to-face meetings, and everything between. She has been part of SPEC since its earliest and remains an invaluable resource to all members. We thank her for all her hard work and dedication!
For the past 25 years, Jason Glick has managed SPEC's IT infrastructure. Thanks to him, our systems stay up to date and our website keeps running, and he manages our internal tools and Wiki, and coordinates with contractors. SPEC just wouldn't be the well-tuned organization it is today without his tireless efforts, and we thank him for all the years he's kept our ship sailing!