Lechner Award

The Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award is bestowed once a year to an individual representative of the membership whose technical and leadership contributions to ATSC have been invaluable and exemplary. The title of the award recognizes the first recipient, the late Bernard Lechner, for his outstanding service to the ATSC.

Lechner was the retired Staff Vice President, Advanced Video Systems of RCA Laboratories. His 30-year career at RCA covered all aspects of television and display research, including early work on home video tape recorders in the late 1950s, extensive development of flat-panel matrix displays in the 1960s including pioneering efforts on active-matrix liquid crystal displays, advanced two-way cable TV systems and pay-TV systems in the early 1970s, electronic tuning systems and CCD comb-filters for TV receivers in the mid-1970s, automated broadcast cameras and CCD broadcast cameras in the late 1970s and early 1980s, to HDTV in the mid-1980s.

Lechner Award Recipients

2025 Recipient - Aldo Cugnini

Cugnini, AGC Systems principal, is a distinguished broadcast engineer whose career spans over 25 years, marked by significant contributions to digital television standards and technologies.  He played a leadership role in developing ATSC digital television systems, contributing to both ATSC 1.0 and the next-generation ATSC 3.0 standards.

“Aldo Cugnini’s long-standing dedication to ATSC and his pivotal work in ITU-R have been instrumental in positioning ATSC 3.0 as a truly international broadcast standard,” said Madeleine Noland, President of ATSC.  “His technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and international leadership make him richly deserving of the 2025 Lechner Award.”

– Madeleine Noland, ATSC President

Cugnini also serves as the International Telecommunication Union’s Co-Chair of the ITU-R SG6 WP6A Rapporteur Group on ATSC 3.0, actively participating in international standardization efforts to incorporate ATSC 3.0 into global broadcasting frameworks.  Credited with 14 issued patents in digital television, audio, broadcasting, and spectrum management, Cugnini’s extensive experience and contributions have been instrumental in advancing digital broadcasting technologies.

All Award Recipients