Thomas Edison
To say that Edison was a major influence on life in the 20th century is an understatement. In 1877, Edison worked on a telephone transmitter that significantly improved on Alexander Graham Bell's work by allowing voices to be transmitted more clearly at higher volume. His experiments led to his invention of the phonograph later that year. In 1878, Edison turned to development of a long-lasting incandescent light bulb, then an entire light system that could be supported in a city. In 1888, Edison charged his associate, William K.L. Dickson, to invent a motion picture camera. Dickson developed a device that recorded images on a celluloid strip. In 1891, patent applications were made for the camera, called the kinetograph, and a motion picture peephole viewer. The holder of an astounding 1093 patents, Edison successfully manufactured and marketed his inventions.
John M. Fluke Sr.
In 1936, when Fluke was completing his master's of science degree in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he developed a unique power meter. In 1949, Fluke launched the John Fluke Engineering Co. in the basement of his Connecticut home. The first product introduced by his new company was the power meter that he had developed at MIT. Fluke sold the product to his first employer, General Electric, and the modest start-up company was on its way. Fluke relocated his company in his native Pacific Northwest in 1952, and three years later he introduced the first differential voltmeter. Under Fluke's leadership, first as president and later as chairman of the board, the company expanded to become a world leader in the development and manufacture of compact, professional electronic test and measurement tools.
David Fullagar
In 1968, three years after he emigrated from Scotland to take a job with Fairchild Semiconductor, Fullagar designed the first compensated operational amplifier. Almost 35 years later, the µA741 remains the industry standard. With its unique, fixed internal compensation capacitor, the µA741 requires no external components. But Fullagar was far from done. Subsequently, he joined Intersil as the company's first IC designer, then went on to become the company's manager of European operations and vice president of research and development. In 1983, Fullagar co-founded Maxim Integrated Products, along with Jack Gifford and Fred Beck. As vice president of R&D and vice president of applications, Fullagar was instrumental in helping Maxim to secure its position as a major contributor to the design, development, and manufacture of linear and mixed-signal ICs.
Bernard M. Gordon
Acknowledged as the "father of high-speed analog-to-digital conversion," Gordon began his career auspiciously at the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Co., where he contributed significantly to the development of Univac, the world's first digital computer. At 26, he co-founded and set the technical direction for EPSCO Inc., inventing data-acquisition and telemetry systems based on his pioneering work in pulse-code modulation and analog-to-digital conversion. In 1964, he founded Gordon Engineering, whose products included the first solid-state X-ray generator. Gordon went on to found Analogic Corp. in 1969. Under his leadership, Analogic has conceived and developed major advances in data acquisition, medical electronics, industrial monitoring and control, special-purpose computation, automated test equipment, and digital communication. He remains chairman of the board and executive chairman.
Andrew S. Grove
Recognized worldwide as the guiding force behind Intel Corp., Grove began his engineering career in 1963 at Fairchild Semiconductor's R&D Laboratory. He became assistant director of R&D in 1967. One year later, Grove co-founded Intel. In 1979, he was named president; in 1987, CEO; in 1997, chairman and CEO; and since 1998, he has been chairman of the board. Under Grove's leadership, Intel has grown into the largest and most recognized semiconductor company in the world. Grove has written more than 40 technical papers and several books, and he holds several patents in semiconductor devices and technology. For six years he taught a graduate course in semiconductor device physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, he lectures at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Marcian (Ted) Hoff
In the late 1960s, Hoff, convinced that semiconductors were the wave of the future and would replace magnetic-core memories in computers, became one of the first employees of a spinoff company of Fairchild Semiconduc-tor that shared his view: Intel Corp. When a Japanese company contacted Intel about developing custom chips for its new desktop printing calculator, Hoff proposed developing one universal central processing unit (CPU) chip that could handle each specific function that the custom chips would have handled individually, and run the calculator itself. In the fall of 1969, with the help of Stan Mazor, an applications engineer, Hoff developed an architecture for a 4-bit CPU. In November of 1971, Intel introduced the 4004 "microprogrammable computer on a chip." The microelectronics era had truly begun.
Grace Hopper
A visionary who early on recognized the computer's potential for commercial applications, Hopper devoted her career to developing software tools that were easier to use. Her work in the U.S. Navy and the private sector spanned programming languages, software development concepts, compiler verification, and data processing. At the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp., which she joined in 1949, her unwavering belief that programs could be written in English spurred Hopper and her team to develop a compiler for the Univac I and II that translated a language for typical business tasks. Convinced that an entire programming language could be developed using English words, Hopper overcame widespread skepticism to spearhead the design of the COmmon Business-Oriented Language. The first COBOL specifications appeared in 1959.
Charles House
Considered the "father of the logic analyzer," House created and defined the field of logic analysis, building on earlier work in directed-beam computer graphics displays for Sutherland and Englebart products. In a 30-year career at Hewlett-Packard, House developed pioneering logic-state analyzers (HP 1600 series) and computer graphics displays (HP 1300A). He also led the projects that developed network protocol analyzers and the MOTIF 3D Look-and-Feel Graphical Interface. House was also the leader of a number of startup activities that became HP business units, including the Logic Systems Division and the Software Engineering Systems Division. Co-author of two textbooks and 20 articles on logic analysis and microprocessor design, House is currently the chairman of Applied Microsystems Corp. and director of Societal Impact of Technology at Intel Corp.
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