Introduction
The Composite Materials Handbook represents the work of numerous volunteers that have committed many hours to research, writing, and meetings in order to make the project move forward. In 2002, the Executive Group of CMH-17 established an Awards Committee with the goal of recognizing exceptional work and commitment to the goals of the handbook. The committee set up three levels of awards. Award descriptions, and recipients are listed below.

The Awards Committee has rotating membership that is selected with the concurrence of the Executive Group. The Secretariat acts as a permanent chair. The committee includes members from all of the handbook coordination groups (PMC, MMC, CMC).

Awards are presented at the the handbook general meetings. There are no limits on the number of awards that may be presented at a given meeting. Many of the citations read during the ceremony have been collected, and may be viewed by clicking on the names below. The citations range from formal letters, to more conversational remarks made at the time. In some cases, the remarks were not collected at the presentation. We apologize if the remarks linked to a name are brief and do not reflect the praise that was intended. If the original nominator's care to expand a citation, please pass your suggestions to the Secretariat.

The committee decided that it would focus on current membership or members that had recently retired. There is a rich history in CMH-17, and many talented people should have been recognized in their time. However, it was decided that a retrospective approach to awards would distract from the contributions of current membership.

The Award of Merit
The Award of Merit is CMH-17's highest award for major service toward advancing the handbook. The Awards Committee makes nominations for the award, which must then be approved by the Executive Committee.

• Recipients of the Award of Merit