Date: Feb. 25, 1998 Contact: Charles E. Blue, NAE Public Information Officer (202) 334-1237; e-mail <cblue@nae.edu> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE National Academy of Engineering to Present Charles Stark Draper Prize Annually WASHINGTON -- The Charles Stark Draper Prize, the engineering profession's highest honor, will be awarded annually by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) beginning in the year 2000. The award will include a cash prize projected to be no less than $500,000. "The Draper Prize is one of the world's most important recognitions of engineering achievement," said NAE President Wm. A. Wulf. "It is our hope that by awarding the prize on an annual basis, rather than biennial, the NAE can help improve the public's understanding of the role that engineering plays in our daily lives." The Draper Prize -- endowed by the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., Cambridge, Mass. -- was established by the NAE in 1988 to recognize individuals whose outstanding engineering achievements have contributed to the well-being and freedom of all humanity. The Draper Laboratory is increasing the endowment to allow the prize to be presented annually. Charles "Doc" Draper was the father of modern inertial guidance systems used in aircraft, space vehicles, strategic missiles, and submarines. Draper also developed the sophisticated navigational system that landed the Apollo astronauts on the moon and returned them safely to Earth. The announcement was made at a Feb. 24 ceremony honoring Vladimir Haensel, the 1997 Draper Prize recipient. Haensel received $450,000 -- the largest honorarium ever awarded by the Draper Prize -- and a solid gold medallion for developing Platforming, a revolutionary chemical engineering process essential in converting petroleum into high-level fuels and in generating the raw materials to manufacture plastics. He developed the process while working for Universal Oil Products Co. (now called UOP), Des Plaines, Ill. The National Academy of Engineering is a private, non-profit institution that provides technology advice under a congressional charter. An association of outstanding engineers from industry and academia, NAE shares with the National Academy of Sciences responsibility for advising the federal government. It also conducts studies of policy issues in engineering and technology, encourages education and research, and grants awards to distinguished engineers.