And the winner is... Click titles below for stories, or go back to intro.     JCP Member of the Year Apache IBM Doug Lea Bill Pugh   Most Outstanding Spec Lead for J2SE/J2EE Platform Joshua Bloch (Sun) Roberto Chinnici (Sun) Linda DeMichiel (Sun) Mark Hornick (Oracle)   Most Outstanding Spec Lead for J2ME Platform Tolga Capin (Nokia) Zhiqun Chen (Sun) Jon Ellis (Sun) Roger Riggs (Sun) Mark Young (Sun)   Most Innovative JSR for J2SE/J2EE Platform JSR 166 Concurrency Utilities Enterprise JavaBeansTM 3.0 The Groovy Programming Language   Most Innovative JSR for J2ME Platform Wireless Messaging API 2.0 Content Handler API Advanced Multimedia Supplements Digital Set Top Box Profile   Java Pro Recognizes Two Best Contributors Spotlight On Jini Community, JXTA Community, Java.net

• Tolga Capin (Nokia), JSR 226 - Winner
• Zhiqun Chen (Sun), JSR 177
• Jon Ellis (Sun), JSR 172 & 169
• Roger Riggs (Sun), JSR 211
• Mark Young (Sun), JSR 172

"Defining a process and following it from the beginning to final stages was a contributing factor for the success of this JSR." – Tolga Capin, Outstanding Spec Lead J2ME Platform

Capin was this year's pick. Capin and Jyri Huopaniemi, both of Nokia, filed JSR 226 to respond to rising industry demand for scalable graphics support in J2ME. Such scalability -- allowing applications to intuitively adjust to any device display -- is a key feature for many applications, particularly maps, portable user interfaces, and games.

Speed-to-market was essential, and Capin's expert group delivered the specification within just nine months of its formation. He credits the "excellent work of all expert group members" for managing this feat. Because the group had established its own clear process early on, it was able to maintain a rapid work pace. "Defining a process and following it from the beginning to final stages was a contributing factor for the success of this JSR," says Capin. Work began with use cases and requirements, and each feature was mapped to these, allowing the group to carry on to the end, despite different initial perspectives on what JSR 226 should deliver.

Capin made sure that all issues, feedback, and decisions -- made by expert consensus -- were documented throughout the project. Input on the project was accepted from the usual sources as well as the W3C (World-Wide Web Consortium) SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) working group. Determined to achieve a coherent architecture between JSR 226 and other open standards, Capin's expert group worked closely with W3C's SVG working group. "JSR 226 and W3C SVG 1.2 specifications are the result of a truly collaborative effort between these two groups," says Capin. That kind of collaboration only comes when a spec lead makes it a priority, as Capin obviously did.

With the JSR now in its final stage, Capin wants to lay the groundwork so applications can be ready by the time it is widely supported on mobile devices. He and his cohorts are making a number of technical presentations at JavaOne and other conferences to inform developers about the JSR's features in varying levels of detail. Capin says, "I hope these will help bring more graphics developers to JSR 226 and J2ME environment."