First-Hand:List of First Hand Histories

From ETHW

Engineers, scientists, and related professionals have long been the main actors in the drama of technological innovation. Knowing their stories, and the stories of their organizations, is essential to understanding how and why technology has developed as it has for the benefit of humanity. This gives technologists from around the world the opportunity to relate their personal, first-hand experiences as central participants in the process of technical innovation in its broadest context. Do you have a story to tell? No matter how big or small, we would be delighted to add your memoirs to our collection. Areas like the thought processes that led to choosing a particular engineering solution, how one came up with the idea for an invention, or projects that have given the most personal and professional satisfaction are all great areas of focus for a first hand history, and you can submit your First Hand History here.

Group First-Hand Histories

  • Evolution of the 2-Person Crew Jet Transport Flight Deck, by Delmar M. Fadden, Peter M. Morton, Richard W. Taylor, and Thomas Lindberg - The authors of this article provide an account of their experiences in conceptualizing and developing the two-person cockpit for commercial airlines.
  • Gigabit Wireless Networks, by Arogyaswami J. Paulraj, Helmut Bölcskei, Rohit U. Nabar, and Dhananjay A. Gore - A brief account of the development of gigabit wireless networks in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
  • Solid State Circuits Society First Hand Histories - A collection of first hand histories initially published in the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society newsletter and subsequently its magazine, including Dale L. Critchlow, Gene M. Amdahl, Barrie Gilbert, Robert H. Dennard, Mitsumasa Koyanagi, Eric A. Vittoz, Christian Enz, Gordon Bell, Erik H. M. Heijne, Federico Faggin, Marcian E. Hoff, Stanley Mazor, Masatoshi Shima, Joseph A. Fisher, Robert P. Colwell, Ken Smith, Tom Rent, John W. Meredith, Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, and Robert Brayton.

50 Year Member First-Hand Histories

The 50 Year Member First-Hand Histories is a special collection of First-Hand Histories submitted by loyal members since the merger of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form IEEE on 1 January 1963.

ASEE Fellows

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) was founded in 1893 as the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education (SPEE). As part of the observation of its 125th anniversary in 2018, ASEE is compiling these first-hand histories of its Fellow grade members. The grade of Fellow is one of unusual professional distinction. It is conferred by the Board of Directors upon an ASEE member with outstanding and extraordinary qualifications who has made significant contributions to engineering or engineering technology education or an allied field and to ASEE. The first Fellows were named in 1983. As of 2017, some 400 ASEE members have received this honor.

Sportsvision

  • Recollections of the development of the FoxTrax hockey puck tracking system, by Rick Cavallaro - Cavallaro discusses how the hockey puck tracking system was developed under Fox’s commission when they won the NHL broadcasting rights in 1995. Included is discussion on the use of infra-red technology in the camera tracking system, development of an ‘electronic puck’ by using LEDs in the puck and the process of synchronizing the cameras and the puck.
  • My Recollections of the Development of the Glowing Hockey Puck, by Stan Honey - Honey recounts his experiences while working at Newscorp and developing the glowing hockey puck for Fox who were eager to make hockey more accessible to television viewers. He describes the various technical approaches and different kinds of technology used in TV cameras to provide a better viewing experience on television.

Single Author First-Hand Histories

Bioengineering

Communications

Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems

Computers and Information Processing

Energy (Petroleum)

Energy (Power)

  • Electrical Power Conversion, by Harold T. Adkins - A history of the development of switching power amplifiers and power supplies.
  • The Lights Go Off All Over the Camp, by Ralph H. Baer - An account of Baer restoring the power to a military camp at a Normandy Chateau during World War II.
  • Arc Furnace Transformers (and me!), by Thomas Blalock - Traces the history of arc furnaces and provides details of the furnace transformers for Pontiac and Baytown, and details Blalock's experiences and observations on those furnaces.
  • My Life in Power Electronics, by Bimal K. Bose - An account of Bose's professional career from a power engineer in India in the mid-1950s to joining the faculty at Bengal Engineering College to being employed by General Electric's Corporate Research and Development division.
  • The Life of an Engineer, by Arthur Cable - Cable's recollection of his career in power spanning England, Singapore, Ceylon and Canada.
  • My Career as an Electrical Consultant, by Aubrey G. Caplan - Caplan talks about his work as an electrical consultant, whose office designed over four thousand jobs.
  • My Life Over 60 Years in the Development of Our National Energy Systems, by Jack Casazza - Cassaza, who came from a working class family, writes about his schooling, his admission to the engineering program at Cooper Union, his part-time work that sustained his education, his education in the V-7 program at Cornell and Princeton University, enrollment in the Midshipmen program at the Naval Academy following his recruitment in the navy during the WWII. After this period he describes his work at PSE&G, further education at GE electrical and management roles in the IEEE in the post WWII era.
  • My Experiences at Westinghouse, by John Cerminara, jr. - A brief account of the author's position installing wind turbine structures.
  • The Evolution of the Independent Power System Operator in New York State, by Dean Chapman - A narrative of the evolution of the Independent Power System Operator as an independent entity under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in New York State.
  • WAPDA's Electric Distribution System in Pakistan, by Frank K. Faulkner - A brief account of a promising, yet ultimately disappointing venture in Faulkner's career.
  • Engineering Power, by Clive M. Gardam - Recollections of Gardam's career at English Electric Company of Canada and Toledo Edison Company.
  • Westinghouse Pioneers Development of Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breakers, by Winthrop Leeds - Leeds discusses the influence of Benjamin Garver Lamme's on his career, which culminated with his role in the application of the gas SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride) to high voltage switchgear, which were the first 500 kw circuit breakers put into service in the United States.
  • An Electrophysicist's Role in Academia and Star Wars, by Enrico Levi - The author of the texts "Polyphase Motors: a Direct Approach to their Design" and "Electromechanical Power Conversion", Levi discusses his career in academia, his teaching approach where he encouraged his students to broaden their horizons to astrophysics, and his role in the Star Wars program, which he began in 1956.
  • Generators and Electrical Insulation, by Vernon McFarlin - McFarlin discusses the Great Depression and poor job prospects afterwards, and his work in testing generators for predicting the life of electrical insulation.
  • A Lifelong Career in Engineering, An Interview with Darrel E. Moll - A brief interview with Moll about his career, focusing in power engineering.
  • Petros N. Papas biography - A brief account of Papas' career in power, from his emigration to America from Greece in 1949 to his career at Westinghouse.
  • Interconnected Power Systems, Regional Integration and the EPA, by Theodore Schroeder - Schroeder recounts his experiences in power engineering, including designing interconnected power systems.
  • Early Youth and Developing Interests of Henry F. Seels, by Henry Seels - A brief account of Seels' observations on service issues with Con Edison in Hell's Kitchen.

Engineering Profession and Education

IEEE

IEEE Award Recipient Series: Q&As with Icons of Engineering & Technology

IEEE's most illustrious Award Recipients provide us with a glimpse into their upbringings, their personal interests, and share some career advice in these brief introspectives.

Lighting and Lasers

  • The Saga of "Astral Convertible", by Per Biorn - An account of Biorn's involvement in the construction of eight towers with light and sound which would respond to dancers in a performance by the Trisha Brown Dance Company.
  • The First Continuous Visible Laser, by Alan White - White details his experiences working on the laser from 1958 - 1962. He explains how much of the innovation in this field at Bell Labs was sponsored by Signal Corps’ request after the latter recognized the potential of laser for communications.
  • Illusion or Reality? Optics and the Human Brain, an Experiment, by J. Coleman White An anecdote involving White's professor at Cornell employing an optical illusion as a classroom experiment.

Materials

Microwaves

Nuclear and Plasma Sciences

  • Recollections of my Wartime and University Experiences in Nuclear Physics‎, by Dean Edmonds, jr. - Prior to teaching physics for 30 years at Boston University, Edmonds details his wartime experiences and his education at MIT and Princeton where he worked with atomic beam systems.
  • Adventures at Wartime Los Alamos, by Lawrence Johnston - Johnson details his experiences in Los Alamos, work on the Fat Man implosion type bomb, and focuses on wartime bomb events such as the Trinity test of the Fat Man bomb and the delivery missions of the bombs to Japan.
  • Spanning the Cold War Nuclear Weapons Era: 1956-58 to 1994-2001, by Roy Merrill - An account discussing Merrill's role in the development of nuclear weapons at Sandia Corporation, the ARIES weapons disassembly facility, and a plant prototypic system for immobilizing waste plutonium accumulated from nuclear weapons development.
  • My Experience in the Army Air Force, 1943 to 1946, by Herman Lunden Miller - Miller discusses his experiences in the Army which started his on a career in physics, including radiation safety, controlled thermonuclear research, the space program, and nuclear power plants.

Radio and Radar

Transportation, Aerospace, and Military