Philo T. Farnsworth Award


The Philo T. Farnsworth Award is a non-competitive award presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as part of the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards to "an agency, company or institution whose contributions over time have significantly impacted television technology and engineering".

History

Named for Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the first fully working all-electronic television system and receiver, the winner is selected by a jury of television engineers from ATAS's Engineering Emmy Awards Committee, who consider "all engineering developments which have proven their efficacy during the awards year and determines which, if any, merit recognition with an Engineering Emmy statuette". The accolade was first awarded in 2003 as a result of about a year of lobbying to ATAS by Farnsworth's wife Pam Farnsworth and Hawaii-based Skinner Entertainment management and production firm owner Georja Skinner.
At an annual award ceremony held in various locations, the ATAS presents the winner with a copper, gold, nickel and silver statuette of a winged woman holding an atom that was designed by engineer Louis McManus. It was first presented at the 55th Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony in September 2003. Motion picture equipment company Panavision was selected as the inaugural recipient for its work in developing "specialty camera items, cranes and dollies, Video assists, 35mm optics, cameras, lighting, trucks and grips". Since then, another 16 agencies, companies and institutions have received the award and none have won more than once. No award was given between 2005 and 2007 and in 2020. It has been presented to two separate recipients for different reasons in a calendar year once, in 2010, to the Desilu production company and the Digidesign audio technology firm. As of the 77th Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards, BBC Research & Development is the most recent winner in this category for its "pivotal role in the development and standardization of High-Definition Television, Ultra High-Definition Television, Hybrid Log-Gamma for the carriage of High Dynamic Range information and 5G networks."