The Avinash Thukral Award was established in 2001 in memory of Avinash Thukral. It recognizes individuals that make outstanding contributions to the UNITE and the Unisys user community.
Award Recipients
- 2011 Ritva Kangasperko
- 2008 Ronald Q. Smith
- 2007 Alan Hood
- 2006 Michael Stroeing
- 2005 Gary Lauk
- 2005 Ray Colaianni
- 2004 Dave Yost
- 2003 Steve Koss
- 2001 Steve Affeldt & Scorpion Team
How to Submit a Nomination
Individuals can be nominated by any current member of UNITE. The award is given during the annual UNITE Conference.
The nominee should be one of the following:
- A current or former employee of Unisys
- A Unisys third party vendor
- An organization using Unisys hardware, software, or services
The nomination should be supported by a minimum of three supporting letters describing the nominee’s contributions to UNITE and Unisys. The letters should contain detailed information regarding the nominee’s accomplishments and be mailed to the UNITE Business Office or emailed to: uniteinc@unite.org
Nominations and supporting letters are due by August 17, 2018. Any nominations received after will be carried over and considered for the following year’s award.
Deadline for Nominations
By August 15th preceding the conference where the award will be given.
About Avinash Thukral
Avinash Thukral was a major supporter and contributor to the UNITE and Unisys community. During most of his 16 years (1985-2001) at Unisys, Avinash acted as a liaison to user groups and worked tirelessly to advance the common interests of Unisys and UNITE.
Avinash was born in India on November 14, 1944 and earned a BS in Physics in 1965 from Delhi University. He came to the United States for advanced education, receiving a BSEE in 1968 from Cornell University and an MBA in 1977 from American University.
Avinash was responsible for conference planning for UNITE and the Unisys User Association (UUA) at the Unisys Roseville Software Development Center. He also worked on less visible tasks which were still very important to UNITE and Unisys such as the coordination, monitoring and publishing of New Feature Suggestions (NFS).
Avinash also coordinated the publication and distribution of the User Conference Notes for all platforms. These publications provided a complete status report on all Unisys hardware and software products and were an indispensable reference. He also scheduled and coordinated the semi-annual meetings of the 2200/IX Advisory Council.
Avinash is survived by his wife, Ranjana, and three children: Avesh, Tara, and Renu. He was a very warm and friendly person, and often invited UNITE officials to dinner at his house when conferences or planning meetings were held in Minneapolis. His graceful presence will be missed by all of us at UNITE who knew and appreciated him.