Frank Massa
- Birthdate
- 1906/04/10
- Birthplace
- Boston, MA, USA
- Associated organizations
- Victor Talking Machine Company, Brush Development Company, Massa Laboratories, Inc
- Fields of study
- Electroacoustics
Biography
Frank Massa (IRE Associate, 1930; VA, 1939; Member, 1955; and Fellow, 1959) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 10 April 1906. He received both the B.S. degree in electrical engineering and the M.Sc. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Cambridge, in 1927 and 1928, respectively. From 1927 to 1928, he was a Swope Fellow at M.I.T.
From 1928 to 1940 Massa was employed by the Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, New Jersey, where he did pioneering work in electroacoustics, including the creation of earliest acoustic test procedures and the initial basic development of many types of microphones, loudspeakers, phonograph pickups, etc., widely used in radio, phonograph, and sound-motion-picture reproduction. He was associated with the Brush Development Company, Cleveland, Ohio from 1940 to 1945, where he was Director of Acoustical Engineering in charge of basic research and development of sonar transducers. Massa was personally responsible for the development of more than fifty new underwater transducers used during World War II in connection with anti-submarine warfare and acoustic mine equipment.
During the years 1945 to 1958, he was President and Director of Engineering at Massa Laboratories, Inc., Hingham, Massachusetts. He supervised the development of numerous electroacoustic products and instruments, including sonar transducers for use in acoustically guided torpedoes, acoustic mines, antisubmarine warfare applications, and other electroacoustic products for industrial applications. In 1958, he became President of the Massa Division, Cohu Electronics, Inc., Hingham, Massachusetts, which continued the work of Massa Laboratories. In 1962, he was also Vice President and Director of Cohu Electronics, Inc.
During World War II, Massa served under U.S. Navy auspices on several scientific committees dealing with undersea warfare, hydrophonic standardization, calibration of hydrophonics, underwater sound measurements, etc. He also served on numerous committees of the American Standards Association and the Acoustical Society of America where he dealt with problems in electroacoustics.
In 1962, he was a Fellow of the IRE and the Acoustical Society of America, and a member of AIP. He authored textbooks, papers, and patents mostly dealing with electroacoustics.
