J. Patrick Waddell2010 Lechner Award Recipient

J. Patrick Waddell of Harmonic Inc. has been honored by the Advanced Television Systems Committee Inc. (ATSC) as the recipient of the Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award for 2010.

“Pat’s enthusiasm and dedication combined with his extensive knowledge of broadcast technology and operations has made him an outstanding contributor to our organization,” said Mark Richer, President of the ATSC. “He is distinguished by his ability to identify technical issues that require attention and address them with formidable drafting and editing skills.”

Mr. Waddell is a Technical Marketing Manager at Harmonic Inc., the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based leader in delivering live and on-demand video to TVs, PCs and mobile devices. Responsible for Harmonic’s compliance with industry standards and government regulations, Mr. Waddell is a Fellow of the SMPTE. He has held a variety of industry and standards-body positions for more than 30 years, and is a recognized expert on audio and video coding.

He is the long-time Chair of the ATSC Specialist group responsible for the Audio and Video Coding activities of the ATSC. Under his leadership, A/72 was created, which standardized carriage of H.264 in ATSC transmissions. He was a driving force behind Recommended Practice A/79, Conversion of ATSC Signals for Distribution to NTSC Viewers. He also played a leading role in the ATSC’s endeavors in the critically important topic of audio loudness, which resulted in a recent recommended practice, A/85, which is recognized as a significant contribution to the industry.

Mr. Waddell earned a BSEE degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and did graduate studies in Technical Production for Live Performance at San Jose State University.

“Pat’s extensive participation in many aspects of ATSC activities over the years and, most recently, his leadership on audio loudness activities have been vital to the ATSC and the television industry,” said Wayne C. Luplow, Chairman, ATSC Board of Directors. “On behalf of the ATSC board and membership, congratulations to Pat as this year’s Lechner award honoree.”