IEEE Internet Award facts for kids

The IEEE Internet Award is a special prize given out every year by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE is a big organization for engineers and scientists. This award celebrates people who have made amazing contributions to how the Internet works.

The award was started in June 1999. It is supported by Nokia Corporation, a well-known technology company. The prize can be given to one person or up to three people. It honors their great work in making the internet better. This includes improving how networks are built, how devices move around while staying connected, and how we use internet applications every day. Winners receive a bronze medal, a certificate, and a cash prize.

Who Has Won the Award?

Many brilliant people have received this award for their important work on the internet. Here are some of the past winners:

• 2000 – Paul Baran, Donald W. Davies, Leonard Kleinrock, and Larry Roberts: They were honored for inventing "packet switching". This is a super important way that data travels across the internet in small pieces, like sending a puzzle in many small boxes instead of one big one.
• 2001 – Louis Pouzin: He was recognized for his work on "datagrams". These are like individual letters or packages of data that travel independently on the internet.
• 2002 – Steve Crocker: He helped create the rules (called "Internet Protocols") that allow different parts of the internet to talk to each other.
• 2003 – Paul Mockapetris: He was honored for creating the Domain Name System (DNS). This system helps turn website names (like example.com) into numbers that computers understand. The award also mentioned Jon Postel, who also did important DNS work but had passed away.
• 2004 – Raymond Tomlinson and David H. Crocker: They were recognized for their work on networked email, which changed how we communicate.
• 2005 – Sally Floyd: She received the award for her contributions to managing internet traffic. This includes making sure the internet doesn't get too crowded (called "congestion control").
• 2006 – Scott Shenker: He was honored for his studies on how internet resources are shared among many users.
• 2007 – The award was not given out this year.
• 2008 – Mike Brescia, Ginny Travers, and Bob Hinden: They were recognized for their early work on routers. Routers are devices that direct internet traffic to the right place.
• 2009 – Lixia Zhang: She was honored for her work on how the internet is built and how it works (its "architecture and modeling").
• 2010 – Stephen Deering: He received the award for his work on IP multicasting and IPv6. IP multicasting sends information to many users at once, and IPv6 is a newer version of internet addresses.
• 2011 – Jun Murai: He was recognized for his leadership in helping the global internet grow, especially in Asia.
• 2012 – Mark Handley: He was honored for his great contributions to internet technology, including network design and how mobile devices connect.
• 2013 – David L. Mills: He received the award for his important work in making sure computers on the internet have very accurate time. This is important for many internet services.
• 2014 – Jon Crowcroft: He was honored for his research and teaching about internet rules (protocols). This includes how data is sent, how to ensure quality, and how to keep things secure.
• 2015 – KC Claffy and Vern Paxson: They were recognized for their important work in measuring and understanding internet traffic. This includes looking at security and analyzing network data.
• 2016 – Henning Schulzrinne: He received the award for his contributions to internet communication technologies.
• 2017 – Deborah Estrin: She was honored for her work in mobile and wireless sensing systems.
• 2018 – Ramesh Govindan: He received the award for his contributions to internet routing and network measurement.
• 2019 – Jennifer Rexford: She was recognized for her work on network routing and management.
• 2020 – Stephen Casner and Eve Schooler: They were honored for their contributions to internet standards and rules for multimedia, like video and audio.
• 2023 – Ian Foster and Carl Kesselman: They received the award for their work on creating and using large-scale computing platforms that work across the internet.
• 2024 – Walter Willinger: He was honored for his contributions to understanding internet structure and performance.

More About Internet Awards

• Internet Hall of Fame
• Internet pioneers
• List of computer science awards