Andrew McStay awarded IEEE Standards Association Standards Medallion

Professor Andrew (Andy) McStay, Director of the Emotional AI Lab, has been awarded the IEEE Standards Association Standards Medallion. The award recognises his leadership in standardising emulated empathy in AI, and its citation covers foundational scholarship, regulatory engagement and public education.

The Medallion is IEEE SA’s award for major contributions to standards development. Only a handful are given each year, and recipients usually come from engineering fields such as Ethernet, power systems and robotics. This year’s award reflects a growing recognition that AI systems which simulate emotion and empathy need technical standards of their own.

Andy chaired the working group behind IEEE 7014.1-2026, the international standard on emulated empathy in AI, which was approved in February 2026. The standard sets out ethical considerations for systems that read, simulate or respond to human emotion, from companion apps to customer service agents.

The award is also a recognition of the Emotional AI Lab’s wider contribution to the standard. Lab members Ben Bland (vice chair of the working group, and chair of the original 7014 standard), Vian Bakir, Alex Laffer and Phoebe Li all brought 7014.1 to publication.

Andy says, “7014.1 exists because a lot of people gave their time and expertise to the hard question of what responsible emulated empathy should look like. It’s good to see that work recognised.”

The award will be presented by the IEEE SA President at the IEEE SA Awards Ceremony in December, Dublin.