Awards
Member of the Year
Mandakini Mantri
Project Management World is pleased to recognize Mandakini Mantri as Member of the Year for her outstanding participation, professionalism, and contribution to the PMW community. Mandakini brings more than 10 years of experience in project and program management, delivering complex technology and business transformation initiatives across diverse industries.
Mandakini was recognized for her exceptional contribution to the Summer version of 7 Steps to Project Success, where she demonstrated strong communication, active listening, collaboration, and a genuine commitment to sharing knowledge with fellow professionals. Her ability to build rapport, engage audiences, and connect practical project management experience with learning has made her a valued member of the PMW community.
Please join Project Management World in congratulating Mandakini Mantri on this well-deserved recognition and celebrating her continued commitment to professional growth, knowledge sharing, and the project management profession.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Rich Meinecke
Project Management World is honored to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Rich Meinecke. He is also honored as Participant of the Year for his appearance as a panelist in the April PMW monthly event.
Throughout his stellar 25-year career in the semiconductor capital equipment industry, Rich has been much more than a senior project manager; he has been a visionary leader and a dedicated mentor to many in the project management profession.
Rich is celebrated for his unique ability to turn complex engineering concepts into successful products with a hands-on approach that inspires everyone around him. His deep expertise and willingness to share his knowledge have left a lasting impact on both PMW and the wider industry.
Please join us in congratulating Rich for his remarkable contributions and for being such a valued part of our team.
Presenter of the Year
Dr. Suman Suman
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Suman Suman on being named Presenter of the Year. Suman presented an overview and many real life examples of the project management lifecycle at the Sixth PMW Mini-Conference. Attendees appreciated the real life scenarios which lead to many interesting discussions highlighting similarities and differences across industries. Suman engaged the audience and kept the lively conversation going.
Suman is a senior staff data engineer / data architect with over 10 years of experience designing cloud-native, compliance-first data platforms along with implementing Agentic AI solutions.
Please join us in congratulating Suman on this award and her contributions to furthering the mission of Project Management World.
Project Manager of the Year
Sumati Natarajan
Project Management World is pleased to recognize Sumati Natarajan as our Project Manager of the Year. Sumati’s outstanding leadership led to a very successful Sixth PMW Mini-Conference entitled In-Person Intense Networking in Small Teams. Her brainstorming, feedback and planning led to a memorable conference as the attendees appreciated the mix of networking opportunities, presentations and teamwork in games leading to more learning and ideas being exchanged. Sumati worked diligently to secure the Google Huddle for our venue.
Sumati has extensive background in support engineering across multiple engineering and customer facing teams. She has led many successful strategic initiatives resulting in transitioning support teams into revenue generating teams.
Please join us in congratulating Sumati on this award and we thank her for her dedication to advancing project management skills and fostering learning across different technology sectors.
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR
Adekunle Babasola
Project Management World is pleased to recognize an outstanding member of our community with a prestigious award. Each year, this honor is given to a member who has demonstrated exceptional dedication, expertise, and contributions to the field.
This year, PMW is proud to present Adekunle Babasola with the Author of the Year award. Adekunle authored Project Management in the Development of AI Ethics Guidelines, a well-researched white paper that includes case studies, challenges, and recommendations that underscore his leadership in shaping best practices for AI governance.
Beyond his contributions as an author, Adekunle’s commitment to advancing project management is evident in his active engagement within PMW. His insights and dedication continue to inspire professionals in the field, reinforcing the principles of ethical and effective project leadership.
Please join us in celebrating Adekunle Babasola for this well-deserved honor and his valuable contributions to the PMW mission.
Volunteer of the Year
Debbie Pham
Project Management World is pleased to announce the award for an excellent member of our team. This is always a member who has exceeded all requirements and is a valued contributor. This year PMW has nominated Debbie Pham as Volunteer of the Year. She has consistently provided excellent skill sets to PMW and her talent and dedication are much appreciated.
Debbie has earned this award for her large contribution to the Project Management for Clean Technology event that attracted 62 registrants. She developed the event agenda, recruited a presenter, created the event slide deck, served as co-host, and handled logistics for breakout sessions.
Please join us in congratulating Debbie for a job well done, as well as her dedication to the PMW mission.