Heinz von Foerster Award

The ASC makes an award at our annual conference to the young person who, in the view of the judging panel, has made the most significant and richest contribution to any and all aspects of the conference. Heinz von Foerster Award winners of previous years are:

  • 2004: Elizabeth Simpson
  • 2008: Lee Worden
  • 2009: Kate Slaymaker and Melanie Meltzer
  • 2010: Robert Helland
  • 2011: Delfina Fantini
  • 2012: Philip Baron
  • 2013: Chathurika Kannangara
  • 2014: Ben Sweeting

We define young as under 36 on January 1, 2016. We offer up to USD500 towards attendance at next year’s conference, remittance of the fee for that conference, and a year’s free membership of the ASC.

The award celebrates Heinz von Foerster, who was one of the founders of the ASC and of second order cybernetics, who founded and ran the Biological Computer Laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and whose contributions to cybernetics, both public and academic, are outstanding and also beautiful.