The Class Of 2011 Arrives With Pride Amid Sadness
Jim Williams. Steve Jobs. Dennis Ritchie. Ken Olsen. Bob Pease. It has been a tough year for the electronics industry as we mourned the loss of these giants. Their contributions can’t be overstated, and we can only wonder what new innovations they would have developed if they had survived. That’s why Williams, Jobs, Ritchie, and Pease all were inaugural members of the Electronic Design Engineering Hall of Fame—and why Olsen is joining their ranks this year.
But these pioneers weren’t alone. Each year, we offer a long roster of candidates to our readers and ask you to select which six visionaries deserve to be named to the Hall of Fame. While the members of this year’s class all are known for their technical achievements, these engineers also have distinguished themselves in other areas, such as business, management, and philanthropy.
We would like to thank our readers for sharing your enthusiasm for these innovators. We are proud to salute them on your behalf.
You can also view an alphabetical list by clicking on the Alphabetically tab, or view by category by clicking on the Category tab.
By Don Tuite, December 01, 2011
Analog Devices’ Bob Adams is a pioneer in many aspects of professional audio and is recognized for his contributions to the art and science of sigma-delta converters.
By David Maliniak, December 01, 2011
Bob Anderson revolutionized oscilloscopes and CRT technology with his development of the direct-view bistable storage CRT, which transformed scopes into vastly more capable instruments and helped build Tektronix into a test-industry giant.
By Mat Dirjish, December 01, 2011
James M. Early observed and described the shrinking width of a bipolar transistor’s base area caused by the expansion of the base-collector junction with increasing base-collector voltage. In his honor, this is called the Early effect.
By Doris Kilbane, November 30, 2011
Richard W. Hamming was the inventor of error detecting and correcting computer codes that carry his name.
Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, led the drive to smaller computers and to a management style rare in the 1950s and 1960s.
By Richard Gawel, December 01, 2011
Known as the Father of Silicon Valley, Fred Terman led the development of Stanford Industrial Park, which became the home of many technology companies and their innovations.