Security

& Privacy
Lockdown

Inside SHA-3

cybrain/shutterstock.com

William Stallings

it could take years to find a suitable

replacement for SHA-2, should it
become vulnerable, NIST decided to
begin the process of developing a new
hash standard.

he National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST) has selected
a new cryptographic hash algorithm
through a public competition. The new
hash algorithm is referred to as the
Secure Hash Algorithm 3 (SHA-3) and is
intended to complement the SHA-2 hash
algorithms currently specified in Federal
Information Processing Standard (FIPS)
180-3, Secure Hash Standard. The
selected algorithm is intended to be suitable for use by the U.S. government as
well as the private sector and is available
royalty-free worldwide.
The winning design for SHA-3 was
announced by NIST in October 2012.
This article examines the internal structure and functions of SHA-3 and talks
about its future role in cryptographic
and security products.

Accordingly, NIST announced in

2007 a competition to produce the next
generation NIST hash function, to be
called SHA-3. NIST completed its evaluation process and announced a final

Throughout the 1990s, first MD5

and then SHA-1 were deployed in a
wide variety of cryptographic applications and security protocols. By 2004,
however, MD5 had been effectively
broken. In 2005, NIST announced the
intention to phase out approval of
SHA-1 and move to a reliance on
SHA-2 by 2010. Shortly thereafter, a
research team described an attack in
which two separate messages could be
found that deliver the same SHA-1
hash using 2 69 operations, far fewer
than the 2 80 operations previously
thought needed to find a collision with
an SHA-1 hash.
SHA-2, particularly the 512-b version, would appear to provide unassailablesecurity.However,SHA-2
shares the same structure and mathematical operations as SHA-1 and MD5,
and this is a cause for concern. Because
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPOT.2013.2254508
Date of publication: 4 November 2013

26

can stock photo/shkyo30

SHA-3 origins

0278-6648/13/$31.002013IEEE

IEEE POTENTIALS

n = k # r. For uniformity, padding is

always added, so that if n mod r = 0, a
padding block of r b is added. The actual
paddingalgorithmisaparameterof
the function.
After processing all of the blocks, the
sponge function generates a sequence
of output blocks Z 0, Z 1, f, Z j - 1 . The
number of output blocks generated is
determined by the number of output bits
desired. If the desired output is , b, then j
blocks are produced, such that (j - 1) #
r < , # j # r.
Figure 2 shows the iterated
structure of the sponge function.
The sponge construction operates
on a state variable s of b = r + c b,
which is initialized to all zeros and
modified at each iteration. The
value r is called the bit rate. This
value is the block size used to partition the input message. The term
bit rate reflects the fact that r is
the number of bits processed at
each iteration: the larger the value
of r, the greater the rate at which
message bits are processed by the
sponge construction. The value c
is referred to as the capacity. A discussion of the security implications
of the capacity is beyond our
scope. In essence, the capacity is a
measure of the achievable complexity of the sponge construction
and therefore the achievable level
of security.
A given implementation can trade
claimed security for speed by increasc
ing the capacity c and decreasing the
bit rate r accordingly, or vice-versa.
c
The default values for Keccak are
z
P0 0
0
c = 1, 024 b, r = 576 b, and theref
f
fore b = 1, 600 b.
The sponge construction cons
sists of two phases. The absorbing
z1
P1 0 c
phase proceeds as follows: For
each iteration, the input block to
f
be processed is padded with
zeroes to extend its length from r
s
(b)
b
to b b. Then, the bitwise XOR of
P2 0 c
the extended message block and s
is formed to create a b-b input
to the iteration function f. The
output of f is the value of s for the
next iteration.
Pk-1 0 c
If the desired output length ,
satisfies
, # b, then at the complef
tion of the absorbing phase, the
first , b of s are returned and the
s
sponge construction terminates.
(a)
Otherwise, the sponge construction enters the squeezing phase.
Fig. 2 Sponge construction. (a) Absorbing phase and (b)
squeezing phase.
To begin, the first , b of s are

A sponge function allows both varistandard in 2012. NIST selected Keccak

able length input and output, making it a
for the SHA-3 algorithm. Keccak was
flexible structure that can be used for a
designed by a team of cryptographers
hash function (fixed length output), a
from Belgium and Italy inclusing Guido
pseudorandom number generator (fixed
Bertoni, Joan Daemen, Michal Peeters,
length input), and other cryptographic
and Gilles Van Assche. In their
functions. Figure 1 illustrates this point.
announcement, NIST explained the
An input message of n b is partitioned
choice as follows:
NIST chose Keccak over the four
into k fixed-size blocks of r b each. If
other excellent finalists for its elenecessary, the message is padded to
gant design, large security margin,
achieve a length that is an integer multigood general performance, excelple of r b. The resulting partition is the
lent efficiency in hardware implesequence of blocks P0, P1, f, Pk -1, with
mentations, and for its flexibility. Keccak uses a new sponge
construction chaining mode,
k # r bits
based on a fixed permutation,
n bits
that can readily be adjusted to
Message
pad
trade generic security strength
for throughput, and can generate larger or smaller hash outputs as required. The Keccak
designers have also defined a
r bits
r bits
r bits
modified chaining mode for
P1
Pk-1
P0
Keccak that provides authenticated encryption.
(a)
SHA-2 has held up well, and
I bits
NIST considers it secure for genr bits
r bits
r bits
eral use. So SHA-3 is a compleZ0
Z1
ment to SHA-2 rather than a
replacement. The relatively comZj-1
pact nature of SHA-3 may make it
(b)
useful for so-called embedded
or smart devices that connect to
Fig. 1 The sponge function (a) input and (b) output.
electronic networks but are not
themselves full-fledged computers. Examples include sensors in
a building-wide security system
b
b
r
r
c
and home appliances that can be
0r 0c
controlled remotely.
r
c
r

The sponge construction

The underlying structure of
SHA-3 is a scheme referred to by
its designers as a sponge construction. The sponge construction has
the same general structure as other
iterated hash functions. As with
other iterated hash functions, the
sponge function takes an input
message and partitions it into
fixed-size blocks. Each block is
processed in turn with the output
of each iteration fed into the next
iteration, finally producing an
output block.
The sponge function is defined by
three parameters:
f is the internal function
used to process each input block
r is the size in bits of the
input blocks, called the bit rate
pad is the padding algorithm.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 201327

x=0

x=1

x=2

x=3

x=4

y=4

L60, 4@

L61, 4@

L62, 4@

L63, 4@

L64, 4@

y=3

L60, 3@

L61, 3@

L62, 3@

L63, 3@

L64, 3@

y=2

L60, 2@

L61, 2@

L62, 2@

L63, 2@

L64, 2@

y=1

L60, 1@

L61, 1@

L62, 1@

L63, 1@

L64, 1@

y=0

L60, 0@

L61, 0@

L62, 0@

L63, 0@

L64, 0@

a6x, y, 0@ a6x, y, 1@ a6x, y, 2@

a6x, y, z@

(a)

a6x, y, 62@ a6x, y, 63@

input and arbitrary output length based

on a fixed-length transformation or permutation f operating on a fixed number
b of bits.
SHA-3 makes use of an iteration function f, labeled Keccak- f, which is
described in the next section. The overall
SHA-3 function is a sponge function
expressed as Keccak[r, c] to reflect that
SHA-3 has two operational parameters, r,
the message block size, and c, the capacity. For SHA-3, the values of c and r
determine the hash size n , as follows:

(b)
Fig. 3 The SHA-3 state matrix. (a) State variable as 5#5 matrix A of 64-b words and
(b) bit labeling of 64-b words.

s
Theta i Step

Round 0

Rho t Step

ROTIx, yM

Pi r Step

Chi | Step

Iota k Step

RCQ0U

Theta i Step

Round 23

Rho t Step

ROTIx, yM

Pi r Step

Chi | Step

Iota k Step

Fig. 4 The SHA-3 iteration function f.

28

RCQ23U

retained as block Z 0 .
Then, the value of s is
updatedwithrepeated
executionsof f, andat
each iteration, the first , b
of s are retained as block
Z i and concatenated with
p r ev i o u s l y g e n e r a t e d
blocks. The process continuesthrough ( j - 1)
iterations until we have
( j - 1) # r < , # j # r. At
this point the first , b of
the concatenated block Y
are returned.
Note that the absorbing
phase has the structure of
a typical hash function. A
common case will be one
in which the desired hash
length is less than or equal
to the input block length;
that is , # r. In that case,
the sponge construction
terminates after the absorbingphase.Ifalonger
output than b b is required,
then the squeezing phase
isemployed.Thusthe
spongeconstructionis
quite flexible. For example, a short message with a
length r could be used as a
seedandthesponge
construction would function as a pseudorandom
number generator.
To s u m m a r i z e , t h e
sponge construction is a
simple iterated construction for building a function F with variable-length

n = 224, r = 1152, c = 448

n = 256, r = 1088, c = 512
n = 384, r = 832, c = 768
n = 512, r = 576, c = 1024 .

In terms of the sponge algorithm

defined above, Keccak [r, c] is defined as
Keccak 6r, c@ D SPONGE

6Keccak - f 6r + c@, pad10 ) 1, r @ ,

where pad 10 ) 1 appends a single bit 1

followed by the minimum number of bits
0 followed by a single bit 1 such that the
length of the result is a multiple of the
block length. We now turn to a discussion
of the iteration function Keccak- f.

The SHA-3 iteration function f

The iteration function Keccak- f processes each successive block of the input
message. Recall that f takes as input a
1,600-b variable s consisting of r b, corresponding to the message block size followed by c b, referred to as the capacity.
For internal processing within f, the input
state variable s is organized as a 5 # 5 # 64
array a. The 64-b units are referred to as
lanes. For our purposes, we generally use
the notation a [x, y, z] to refer to an individual bit in the state array. When we are
more concerned with operations that
affect entire lanes, we designate the 5 # 5
matrix as L [x, y], where each entry in L is
a 64-b lane. The use of indices within this
matrix is shown in Fig. 3. Thus, the columns are labeled x = 0 through x = 4,
the rows are labeled y = 0 through
y = 4, and the individual bits within a
lane are labeled z = 0 through z = 63.
The mapping between the bits of s and
those of a is
s [64 (5y + x) + z] = a [x, y, z] .
We can visualize this with respect to
the matrix in Fig. 3. When treating the
state as a matrix of lanes, the first lane in
the lower left corner, L [0, 0], corresponds to the first 64 b of s. The lane in
IEEE POTENTIALS

the second column, lowest row, L[1,0],

corresponds to the next 64 b of s. Thus,
the array a is filled with the bits of s
starting with row y = 0 and proceeding
row by row.
The function f is executed once for
each input block of the message to be
hashed. The function takes as input the
1,600-b state variable and converts it into
a 5 # 5 matrix of 64-b lanes. This matrix
then passes through 24 rounds of processing. Each round consists of five steps,
and each step updates the state matrix by
permutation or substitution operations.
As shown in Fig. 4, the rounds are identical with the exception of the final step in
each round, which is modified by a round
constant that differs for each round.
The steps have a simple description
leading to a specification that is compact
and in which no trap door can be
hidden. The operations on lanes in the
specification are limited to bitwise Boolean operations (XOR, AND, NOT) and
rotations. There is no need for tablelookups, arithmetic operations, or datadependent rotations. Thus, SHA-3 is
easily and efficiently implemented in
either hardware or software.
The Keccak reference defines the i
function as follows. For bit z in column
x, row y:
i: a 6x, y, z @ ! a 6x, y, z @

5e
5e

yl =0
4

yl =0

a 6(x - 1), y l , z @o
a 6(x + 1), y l , ^z - 1 h@o,

(1)
where the summations are iterated bitwise
XOR operations. We can see more clearly
what this operation accomplishes with reference to Figure 5a. First, define the bitwise XOR of the lanes in column x as:
C 6x@ = L 6x, 0@ 5 L 6x, 1@ 5 L 6x, 2@
5 L 6x, 3@ 5 L 6x, 4@ .

Consider lane L 6x, y@ in column x,

row y. The first summation in (1) performs a bitwise XOR of the lanes in
column ^ x - 1 h mod 4 to form the 64-b
laneC 6x - 1@ . The second summation
performs a bitwise XOR of the lanes in
column (x + 1) mod 4, and then rotates
the bits within the 64-b lane so that the
bit in position z is mapped into position
z + 1 mod 64. This forms the lane ROT
^ C 6x + 1@, 1 h . These two lanes and
L 6x, y@ are combined by bitwise XOR
to form the updated value of L 6x, y@ .
This can be expressed as

L 6x, y@ ! L 6x, y@ 5 C 6x - 1@
5 ROT ^C 6x + 1@, 1 h .

Figure 5(a) illustrates the operation

on L[3,2]. The same operation is performed on all of the other lanes in
the matrix.
Several observations are in order.
Each bit in a lane is updated using the
bit itself and one bit in the same bit
position from each lane in the preceding column and one bit in the adjacent
bit position from each lane in the succeeding column. Thus the updated
value of each bit depends on 11 b. This
provides good mixing. Also, the theta
step provides good diffusion. The
designers of Keccak state that the theta
step provides a high level of diffusion
on average and that without theta, the
round function would not provide diffusion of any significance.
The t function is defined as follows:
t: a 6x, y, z @ ! a 6x, y, z @

if x = y = 0

x
0 1 3 1
c m =c
m c m mod 5
y
2 3 0
0 1 0 1 0 1 1
mc
mc
m c m mod 5
=c
2 3 2 3 2 3 0
0 1 0 1 0
mc
m c m mod 5
=c
2 3 2 3 2
0 1 2
m c m mod 5
=c
2 3 6
0 1 2
m c m mod 5
=c
2 3 1
1
1
= c m mod 5 = c m .
7
2

Table 1 shows the calculations that

are performed to determine the amount
of the bit shift and the location of each
bit shift value. Note that all of the rotation amounts are different.
The t function thus consists of a
simple permutation (circular shift) within
each lane. The intent is to provide diffusion within each lane. Without this function diffusion between lanes would be
very slow.
The r function is defined as follows:

otherwise,
t: a 6x, y, z @ ! a ;x, y, c z -

^t + 1 h^t + 2 h

mE

2
(2)

with

with t satisfying 0 # t < 24 and

c

0 1 t 1
x
m c m = c m in GF (5) 2 # 2 ,
2 3 0
y

r: a 6x, y@ ! a 6x l , y l@,

x
0 1 xl
c m=c
m e o . (3)
y
2 3 yl

This can be rewritten as ^ x, y h #

^ y, ^2x + 3y hh . Thus, the lanes within the

where GF (5) 2 # 2 means that arithmetic

will be done on 2 # 2 matrices and all
additions and multiplications will be
taken mod 5.
It is not immediately obvious what
this step performs, so let us look at the
process in detail.
1) The lane in position ^ x, y h = ^0, 0 h,
that is L [0, 0], is unaffected. For all other
words, a circular bit shift within the lane
is performed.
2) The variable t, with 0 # t < 24, is
used to determine both the amount of
the circular bit shift and which lane is
assigned which shift value.
3) The 24 individual bit shifts that
are performed have the respective
values [^t + 1 h^t + 2 h] /2 mod 64.
4) The shift determined by the value
of t is performed on the lane in position
(x, y) in the 5 # 5 matrix of lanes. Specifically, for each value of t, the corresponding matrix position is defined by

5 # 5 matrix are moved so that the new

x position equals the old y position and
the new y position is determined by
^ 2x + 3y h mod 5. Figure 6 helps in visualizing this permutation. Lanes that are
along the same diagonal (increasing in y
value going from left to right) prior to r
are arranged on the same row in the
matrix after r is executed. Note that the
position of L [0, 0], is unchanged.
Thus the r step is a permutation of
lanes: the lanes move position within
the 5 # 5 matrix. The t step is a permutation of bits: bits within a lane are
rotated. Note that the r step matrix
positions are calculated in the same
way that, for the t step, the onedimensionalsequenceofrotation
constants is mapped to the lanes of
the matrix.
The | function is defined as follows:

x
0 1 1
c m =c
m c m . For example, for t = 3,
y
2 3 0

(4)

we have:

|: a 6x@ ! a 6x@ 5 ^^ a 6x + 1@ 5 1 h

AND a 6x + 2@h .

This function operates to update each

bit based on its current value and the

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 201329

The future of SHA-3

x=0

x=1

x=2

x=3

x=4

y=4

L60, 4@

L61, 4@

L62, 4@

L63, 4@

L64, 4@

y=3

L60, 3@

L61, 3@

L62, 3@

L63, 3@

L64, 3@

y=2

L60, 2@

L61, 2@

L62, 2@

L63, 2@

L64, 2@

y=1

L60, 1@

L61, 1@

L62, 1@

L63, 1@

L64, 1@

y=0

L60, 0@

L61, 0@

L62, 0@

L63, 0@

L64, 0@

C61@

Lt62, 3@

L62, 3@

ROT(C63@, 1)

(a)
x=0

x=1

x=2

x=3

x=4

y=4

L60, 4@

L61, 4@

L62, 4@

L63, 4@

L64, 4@

y=3

L60, 3@

L61, 3@

L62, 3@

L63, 3@

L64, 3@

y=2

L60, 2@

L61, 2@

L62, 2@

L63, 2@

L64, 2@

y=1

L60, 1@

L61, 1@

L62, 1@

L63, 1@

L64, 1@

y=0

L60, 0@

L61, 0@

L62, 0@

L63, 0@

L64, 0@

L62, 3@

L63, 3@

L62, 3@

AND

L64, 3@

(b)
Fig. 5 Theta and chi step functions. (a) i step function and (b) | step function.

NIST published SHA-3 as a draft standard for public comment in the latter part
of 2013. As of this writing, it is expected
that the final standard will be published by
the middle of 2014. It may be some time
before we see commercially available
implementations in cryptographic algorithms and protocols. And because SHA-2
continues to be viewed as secure, it is
unlikely that SHA-3 will completely supplant SHA-2. But, with its high level of
security, its implementation efficiency, and
the prestige of having prevailed in a competition, SHA-3 is likely to become a widely
used hash function. An additional advantage of having both SHA-2 and SHA-3 as
standard hash functions is that the two
hash functions have fundamentally different structures and use quite different mathematical operations. Thus, any cryptanalytic
attack that is developed that tends to
weaken one of the two hash functions is
unlikely to be useful against the other.

Acknowledgment
I would like to thank the designers
ofKeccak,whoreviewedadraftof
this article.

Read more about it

Table 1. Rotation values used in SHA-3.
t

g(t)

g(t)
mod 64

x, y

g(t)

g(t)
mod 64

x, y

1, 0

12

91

27

4, 0

0, 2

13

105

41

0, 3

2, 1

14

120

56

3, 4

10

10

1, 2

15

136

4, 3

15

15

2, 3

16

153

25

3, 2

21

21

3, 3

17

171

43

2, 2

28

28

3, 0

18

190

62

2, 0

36

36

0, 1

19

210

18

0, 4

45

45

1, 3

20

231

39

55

55

3, 1

21

253

61

10

66

1, 4

22

276

20

11

78

14

4, 4

23

300

44

value of the corresponding bit position

in the next two lanes in the same row.
The operation is more clearly seen if we
consider a single bit a 6x, y, z @ and write
out the Boolean expression:

30

a 6x, y, z @ ! a 6x, y, z @ 5
^NOT ^ a 6x + 1, y, z @hh
AND ^a 6x + 2, y, z @h .

Figure 5(b) illustrates

the operation of the |
function on the bits of the
64-b lane L[3, 2]. This is
the only one of the step
functions that is a nonlinear mapping. Without it,
the SHA-3 round function
would be linear.
The k function is
defined as
k: a ! a 5 RC 6i r@ .(5)

This function combines

each 64-b array element
with a round constant that
2, 4
differs for each round. It
4, 1
breaks up any symmetry
1, 1
induced by the other four
routines. In fact, (5) is
somewhat misleading. The
round constant is applied
only to the first lane of the internal state
array. We express this is as
4, 2

L 60, 0@ ! L 60, 0@ 5 RC 6i r@

0 # i r # 24 .

From round to round, the permutations

and substitutions propagate the effects of
the k function to all of the lanes and all of the
bit positions in the matrix. It is easily seen
that the disruption diffuses through i and |
to all lanes of the state after a single round.

X. Wang and H. Yu, How to

break MD5 and other hash functions,
in Advances in Cryptology, Proceedings
Eurocrypt (Lecture Notes in Computer
Science, vol. 3494), R. Cramer, Ed. New
York: Springer-Verlag, 2005, pp. 1935.
X. Wang, Y. Yin, and H. Yu,
Finding collisions in the full SHA-1,
in Advances in Cryptology, Proceedings Crypto (Lecture Notes in Computer
Science, vol. 3621), V. Shoup, Ed. New
York: Springer-Verlag, 2005, pp. 116.
B. Preneel, The first 30 years of
cryptographic hash functions and the NIST
SHA-3 competition, in Proc. CT-RSA Int.
Conf. Topics Cryptology, 2010, pp. 114.
W. Burr, A new hash competition, IEEE Security Privacy, vol. 6, no.
3, pp. 6062, MayJune 2008.
National Institute of Standards
and Technology, Announcing request
for candidate algorithm nominations
for a new cryptographic hash algorithm
(SHA-3) family, Federal Register, vol. 72,
no. 212, pp. 6221262220, Nov. 2007.
T. Harbert, New King of security
algorithms crowned, IEEE Spectr., vol.
49, no. 12, pp. 1213, Dec. 2012.
G. Bertoni, G. Bertoni, J. Daemen,
M. Peeters, and G. Van Assche, Sponge
functions, in Ecrypt Hash Workshop,
May 2007.
IEEE POTENTIALS

x=0

x=1

w2

Ro

x=2

x=3

w4

x=4

w1

Ro

Ro

w
Ro

y = 4 L60, 4@

L61, 4@

L62, 4@

L63, 4@

L64, 4@

y = 3 L60, 3@

L61, 3@

L62, 3@

L63, 3@

L64, 3@

y = 2 L60, 2@

L61, 2@

L62, 2@

L63, 2@

L64, 2@

y = 1 L60, 1@

L61, 1@

L62, 1@

L63, 1@

L64, 1@

y = 0 L60, 0@

L61, 0@

L62, 0@

L63, 0@

L64, 0@

w
Ro

w2
Ro
w4
Ro
w1
Ro
w3
Ro

x=0

x=1

x=2

x=3

x=4

y = 4 L62, 0@

L63, 1@

L64, 2@

L60, 3@

L61, 4@

y = 3 L64, 0@

L60, 1@

L61, 2@

L62, 3@

L63, 4@

y = 2 L61, 0@

L62, 1@

L63, 2@

L64, 3@

L60, 4@

y = 1 L63, 0@

L64, 1@

L60, 2@

L61, 3@

L62, 4@

y = 0 L60, 0@

L61, 1@

L62, 2@

L63, 3@

L64, 4@

(b)

(a)
Fig. 6 Pi step function. (a) Lane position at the start of step and (b) lane position after the permutation.

G. Bertoni, J. Daemen, M. Peeters,

and G. Van Assche. (2011, Jan.). Cryptographic sponge functions. [Online].
Available: http://sponge.noekeon.org/
W. Stallings, Cryptography and
Network Security: Principles and Practice, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson, 2013.

the way ahead

About the author

William Stallings (wllmst@me.com) is a
consultant, lecturer, and author of numerous computer science textbooks on cryptography, computer organization, operating
systems, and computer networking. His
latest book is Cryptography and Network
Security (Pearson. 2013). He created and

maintains the Computer Science Student

Resource Site at ComputerScienceStudent.
com. This site provides documents and
links on a variety of subjects of general
interest to computer science students (and
professionals). He is a member of the editorial board of Cryptologia, a scholarly
journal devoted to all aspects of cryptology.

(continued from page 3)

with SB Chapters and Chapters within your Section that align

with the technical interests of IEEE, offers you, and your
IEEE SB, maximum support and maximum exposure to the
larger IEEE.
As a student, have you ever attended a Section meeting or
any Section event? Do you invite your Section leaders to your
IEEE SB events? The benefits of interaction between an IEEE
Section and an IEEE SB include:
increased number of successful Section and SB events
and meetings with increased attendance
open doors for meetings, networking opportunities,
and other events held jointly between Sections and SBs
future skilled volunteers for the Section as students
graduate and elevate to higher grade membership
potential increase in the number of active Chapters in
SBs and Sections.
Some ideas for IEEE Section and IEEE SB engagement include:
holding Section Executive Committee meetings at universities
having a student serve on the Section ExCom as a voting member
the Section providing a mentor for the SB
planning and holding joint Section and SB technical
activities and professional awareness activities, such as a Student Professional Awareness Conference
SBs can request modest funding support from Sections
for specific campus events.
I encourage you, as an IEEE SB, to reach out to your local
Section and build a relationship with them. The potential
benefits are worth the effort to engage.

IEEE SB AWARDS: The Student Activities Committee (SAC)

is pleased to announce this years recipients of the SAC Awards.
There were a total of five awards for which students were eligible to submit nominations. Each award recognizes a different area of student leadership and success. The SAC is also
pleased to report that there was a 200% increase in nominations
received for this years award cycle compared to the previous
year. Please check the Student Activities Web site (www.ieee.
org/students) for a list of all recipients of the following awards:
IEEE Student Enterprise Award
Larry K. Wilson Regional Student Activities Award
IEEE Regional Exemplary Student Branch Award
IEEE Outstanding Branch Counselor and Advisor Award
Recognition Program
The Darrel Chong Student Activity Award.
The nomination process for the upcoming year will begin
in November 2013 with all nominations due by February 2014.
Please check https://ieee-student-awards.myreviewroom.com for
more details and specific deadlines. If you have questions regarding the awards program, please contact student-services@ieee.org.
I like to close out each of my columns in the same manner
with a request to please drop me a note at anytime to share
your thoughts on the value of your IEEE student membership
and to share a story or example of what your IEEE membership
engagement means to you. I would also like to here about how
your IEEE SB has successfully interacted with your IEEE Section.
John Paserba
IEEE MGA ChairStudent Activities
(j.paserba@ieee.org)

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 201331