2014 Prime of Life Achievement Award

Professor Emeritus Dr. George Sofko (PhD) has dedicated his research career to the development and functioning of the Dual Auroral Radar Network (DARN) in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Northwest Territories. A leader in the Canadian and international auroral research, his research focus is on solar wind energy, and what happens when particles from the sun meet the earth's magnetic field in an area where hundreds of satellites are in orbit, and they are a direct measure of the transfer of energy from the solar wind to the earth.

He has been the leader of the Canadian SuperDARN (Super Dual Auroral Radar Network) team, funded by NSERC. The SuperDARN project includes direct participation from scientists in Canada, the US, Britain, France, Japan, South Africa, and Australia, and associates in many other nations. Dr. Sofko headed the Auroral Processes Team of the Canadian Network for Space Research (CNSR), one of the Networks of Centers of Excellence established by the Government of Canada in 1990. During the 5-year span of the CNSR, a set of sophisticated multiple-beam phased-array radars called SAPPHIRE NORTH and SAPPHIRE SOUTH were built by the University of Saskatchewan team (with Dr. J. A. Koehler). The SAPPHIRE SOUTH radar system is still operated on a continuous basis, and provides detailed information about auroral processes occurring over northern Saskatchewan.

During his post-retirement years, Dr. Sofko has continued his leadership of SuperDARN (2006-2012) and received the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (2009).