IEEE Women in Engineering magazine and IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer Digest have won top honors for publication excellence. They received APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, given for outstanding graphic design, editorial content, and overall communications in an annual competition sponsored by Communications Concepts Inc. Nearly 1400 APEX Awards of Excellence were handed out this year in 110 individual categories.

Women in Engineering received the Publication Excellence award in the category of New Magazines and Journals, while Today’s Engineer Digest won the Award of Excellence for Most Improved Magapapers and Newspapers for its March 2007 issue, which unveiled its new design. “Magapapers” is Communications Concepts’ term for a hybrid publication that is a cross between a magazine and a newspaper.

The online Women in Engineering magazine is distributed quarterly to members of the IEEE Women in Engineering group, with a limited number of print copies distributed to high schools and colleges. It covers political and international issues surrounding technology, including cultural differences in the workplace. The magazine also highlights diverse careers in engineering and runs profiles of people whom its editors believe are making a difference in the world.

“The publication aims to support career growth, no matter the stage, whether of a student, young professional, seasoned professional, or a parent returning to the workforce after having a family,” says IEEE Fellow Karen Panetta, the magazine’s editor. “The magazine hopes not only to inspire young engineers but also to provide ideas for new career paths to those at a crossroads.”

Today’s Engineer Digest is a print magazine distributed in March and October to U.S. IEEE members. Georgia C. Stelluto, IEEE-USA’s publishing manager and the publication’s managing editor, says that what gave the publication an edge over the competition was its updated design, which relies on attractive colors and fonts and eye-catching photographs. The magazine also introduced several new columns in its redesign, including ones geared to students and young professionals.