Cincinnati - Feb 21, 2008 - Harris has named Geoffrey N. Mendenhall the 2008 recipient of the Harris Fellow Award, the company's highest recognition for achievement. Mendenhall, vice president of research and technology with the Transmission Systems business unit at Harris Broadcast Communications, received the award as part of the company's celebration of National Engineers Week.

Mendenhall has contributed to improvements in the technical quality of FM transmitters for more than 35 years. Best known for his work with FM exciters, many of Mendenhall's designs have become industry standards. Today, more than 10,000 FM exciters currently on the air worldwide incorporate Mendenhall's innovations.

Harris Fellows are selected based upon significant contributions to the state-of-the-art in the industry; recognition among industry peers; demonstrated technical depth, breadth and leadership; mentoring of others in the industry; and continuous contributions of importance to Harris' business.

Mendenhall joined the former Gates Radio Division of Harris as an electrical engineer designing directional antenna phasing equipment in 1973 after receiving his B.E.E. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. While at Georgia Tech, Mendenhall designed, hand-built and FCC type-accepted the student station's 425W FM broadcast transmitter. Highlights of his career include the development of the Harris Digit digital FM exciter, the first 2MW solid-state AM transmitter and the Harris CD-Link uncompressed digital studio transmitter link. Recent product developments under his leadership include the Flexstar FM/HD Radio exciter, the Z-FM family of transmitters and the Apex ATSC exciter.

Other honors in Mendenhall's career include writing the FM transmitter chapter of the past three editions of the NAB Engineering Handbook, receiving the the National Association of Broadcasters' Radio Engineering Achievement Award in 1999, and holding five U.S. Patents for innovations to broadcast equipment. He is a registered professional engineer in Illinois and Ohio, is a senior member of IEEE, and is a member of the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE).