# Awards

As part of the ISTVS mission to advance the knowledge of terrain-vehicle systems in engineering practice and innovation, ISTVS has awarded exceptional work with an awards program that includes St. Christopher’s Lectures, Bekker-Reece-Radforth Awards, and Best Paper Awards.

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## 2024 St. Christopher’s Lecture Honoree

Since 1966, ISTVS has honored distinguished workers in the field of terrain-vehicle interaction by offering them the opportunity to deliver the St. Christopher Lecture at an international ISTVS conference, held every three years. Named for the patron saint of travelers, this is the highest award offered by the society. The recipient need not be an ISTVS member. Selection and invitation of recipients is the responsibility of the conference organizing committee.

[**Professor Kazuya Yoshida**](#id-2024-st.-christophers-lecture-honoree)\
\&#xNAN;*Roving the Moon — Steeper, Faster and Smarter*\
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University, Japan

<div align="left"><figure><img src="https://2380761753-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FDSUIEqgaPlFzlCt7TKJP%2Fuploads%2F4kEwd0fleyDAdoEq0TSQ%2Fheadshot-Kazuya%20Yoshida.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=0fe8b42b-bcaa-4c48-bcaa-68599cdbeae8" alt="Professor Kazuya Yoshida" width="164"><figcaption><p>Professor Kazuya Yoshida</p></figcaption></figure></div>

[Read full St Christopher Lecture citation](#id-2024-st.-christophers-lecture-honoree)

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## 2024 Bekker-Reece-Radforth Award Honoree

This award was established in 2002 and honors exceptional research and/or industrial achievements in engineering practice of the principles of terramechanics. The award recognizes the exceptional contributions of Dr. M. G. Bekker, Dr. A. R. Reece, and Professor N. W. Radforth to the field of terramechanics and to the ISTVS.

[**Professor Schalk Els**](#id-2024-bekker-reece-radforth-award-honoree)\
Vehicle Dynamics Group\
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering\
University of Pretoria\
Pretoria, South Africa

<div align="left"><figure><img src="https://2380761753-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FDSUIEqgaPlFzlCt7TKJP%2Fuploads%2F1renoDbszBbGIozLzHwz%2Fimage1.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=e5297d7c-cf2a-4d88-bcd2-1256e1c97485" alt="" width="136"><figcaption><p>Professor Schalk Els</p></figcaption></figure></div>

[Read full award citation](#id-2024-bekker-reece-radforth-award-honoree)

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## 2024 Best Paper Awards

We are pleased to share that these seven papers received Best Paper Awards at the conference:

> 2919\
> **Takahiro Fuke, Sora Ishikawa, and Genya Ishigami**\
> \&#xNAN;*Accurate Rover Mobility Analysis Using HILS-DRFT with Real-Time Parameter Tuning Approach*

> 4213 \
> **Tomoyasu Nakano, Takuya Omura and Genya Ishigami** \
> \&#xNAN;*DEM-Based Analysis and Optimization of an Excavation Bucket Drum for In-Situ Resource Utilization*

> 5620 \
> **Ryosuke Eto, Hayatake Sato and Junya Yamakawa** \
> \&#xNAN;*Step-Climbing Motion Acquisition of Tracked Robot with Flippers without Using Environment Information by Reinforcement Learning*

> 9295 \
> **Takuya Omura and Genya Ishigami** \
> \&#xNAN;*Granular Scaling Laws for Accurate Prediction of Wheel Mobility on Slopes in Low-gravity Environments*

> 3769 \
> **Michael Parker, Clifford Witte, Susan Frankenstein, and Allan Wheeler** \
> \&#xNAN;*Mobility During the Transition Seasons in the Arctic*

> 4715 \
> **Herman Hamersma, Christian van Aswegen, Glenn Guthrie, and Schalk Els** \
> \&#xNAN;*UAV-Based Three-Dimensional Rough Terrain Modelling*

> 6422 \
> **Arthur Candalot, James Hurrell, Malik-Manel Hashim, Brigid Hickey, Mickael Laine, and Kazuya Yoshida** \
> \&#xNAN;*Sinkage Study in Granular Material for Space Exploration Legged Robot Gripper*