John Fritz Medal. The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived between 1822 and 1913.  When AAES was dissolved in 2020, the administration of the Fritz medal was transferred to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), and is currently coordinated by AIME member society, the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME).

The award is referred to as the "highest award in the engineering profession" by the AAES, and is further regarded by many as the "Nobel Prize in engineering".

Background 
The John Fritz Medal is often described as the "Nobel Prize for engineering." This prestigious award is given annually for notable scientific or industrial achievements. It is granted to living people, but also posthumous. Since its initiation in 1902, there were six years when it was not awarded.

The John Fritz Medal board once consisted of sixteen representatives in four national societies in the fields of civil engineering, mining, metallurgical engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.

Among the most notable winners are Thomas Edison, Lord Kelvin, Alexander Graham Bell, George Westinghouse, Orville Wright, Charles F. "Boss" Kettering, Claude Shannon, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore.

Recipients 
Source:
 
 1902 John Fritz
 1903 No award
 1904 No award
 1905 Lord Kelvin
 1906 George Westinghouse
 1907 Alexander Graham Bell
 1908 Thomas Alva Edison
 1909 Charles Talbot Porter
 1910 Alfred Noble
 1911 Sir William Henry White
 1912 Robert Woolston Hunt
 1913 No award
 1914 John Edson Sweet
 1915 James Douglas
 1916 Elihu Thomson
 1917 Henry Marion Howe
 1918 J. Waldo Smith
 1919 Gen. George W. Goethals
 1920 Orville Wright
 1921 Sir Robert Hadfield
 1922 Charles P. E. Schneider
 1923 Guglielmo Marconi
 1924 Ambrose Swasey
 1925 John Frank Stevens
 1926 Edward Dean Adams
 1927 Elmer Ambrose Sperry 
 1928 John Joseph Carty
 1929 Herbert Clark Hoover
 1930 Ralph Modjeski
 1931 David Watson Taylor
 1932 Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin
 1933 Daniel Cowan Jackling
 1934 John Ripley Freeman (posthumous)
 1935 Frank Julian Sprague (posthumous)
 1936 William Frederick Durand
 1937 Arthur Newell Talbot
 1938 Paul Dyer Merica
 1939 Frank Baldwin Jewett
 1940 Clarence Floyd Hirshfeld (posthumous)
 1941 Ralph Budd
 1942 Everette Lee DeGolyer
 1943 Willis Rodney Whitney
 1944 Charles F. Kettering
 1945 John Lucian Savage
 1946 Zay Jeffries
 1947 Lewis Warrington Chubb
 1948 Theodore von Karman
 1949 Charles Metcalf Allen
 1950 Walter H. Aldridge
 1951 Vannevar Bush
 1952 Ervin George Bailey
 1953 Benjamin F. Fairless
 1954 William Embry Wrather
 1955 Harry Alonzo Winne
 1956 Philip Sporn
 1957 Ben Moreell
 1958 John R. Suman
 1959 Mervin J. Kelly
 1960 Gwilym A. Price
 1961 Stephen D. Bechtel
 1962 Crawford H. Greenewalt
 1963 Hugh L. Dryden
 1964 Lucius D. Clay
 1965 Frederick Kappel
 1966 Warren K. Lewis
 1967 Walker L. Cisler
 1968 Igor Ivan Sikorsky
 1969 Michael Lawrence Haider
 1970 Glenn B. Warren
 1971 Patrick E. Haggerty
 1972 William Webster
 1973 Lyman Dwight Wilbur
 1974 H. I. Romnes
 1975 Manson Benedict
 1976 Thomas O. Paine
 1977 George R. Brown
 1978 Robert G. Heitz
 1979 Nathan M. Newmark
 1980 T. Louis Austin, Jr.
 1981 Ian MacGregor
 1982 David Packard
 1983 Claude Elwood Shannon
 1984 Kenneth A. Roe
 1985 Daniel C. Drucker
 1986 Simon Ramo
 1987 Ralph Landau
 1988 Ralph B. Peck
 1989 Robert N. Noyce
 1990 Gordon A. Cain
 1991 Hunter Rouse
 1992 Serge Gratch
 1993 Gordon E. Moore
 1994 Hoyt C. Hottel
 1995 Lynn S. Beedle
 1996 George N. Hatsopoulos
 1997 Arthur E. Humphrey
 1998 Ivan A. Getting
 1999 George H. Heilmeier
 2000 John W. Fisher
 2001 Paul C. W. Chu
 2002 Daniel S. Goldin
 2003 Robert S. Langer
 2004 John A. Swanson
 2005 George Tamaro
 2006 No award
 2007 Gavriel Salvendy
 2008 Kristina M. Johnson
 2009 Yvonne Claeys Brill
 2010 Gerald J. Posakony
 2011 Andrew J. Viterbi
 2012 Leslie E. Robertson
 2013 Gregory Stephanopoulos
 2014 Julia Weertman
 2015 Jon D. Magnusson
 2016 H. Vincent Poor
 2017 Frank Kreith
 2018 Anne S. Kiremidjian
 2019 No award
 2020 No award
 2021 Elon Musk
 2022 No award
 2023 Asad M. Madni
 2024 Alan Bovik

See also
 List of engineering awards
 List of prizes named after people

References

Engineering awards
 
Awards established in 1902
1902 establishments in the United States