Sigma Series Lecture Tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Featuring James West
Historical Contributions by Underrepresented Minorities to Improving the Quality of Life through Technology
James E. West
TUESDAY: February 7, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Virginia Air and Space Center in downtown Hampton, Virginia. FREE (no reservations).
Abstract
Throughout history people of color have made substantial contributions to the technology success on this country, yet the world and the black community in particularly is mostly unaware of the life of both past and present Black scientist and technologist who have make in many cases earth shattering changes in the way we live and enjoy life. We are aware of some hall mark names such as George Washington Carver, Lewis Latimer, and Elijah McCoy, but even here literature is often misleading about their work. Carver is well known as the peanut man but we seldom hear about his crop rotation program that prevented the south from becoming the dust bowl that rendered the mid-west agriculturally unproductive for many years. There are many other examples that I will mention in this talk. Induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame is one measure of the significance of an invention or scientific discovery. Major requirement for consideration for induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame is that scientific contributions and patents must truly change the world. To date 18 Black men have been so honored. I will talk about these men and their contributions and a bit about their lives. I will also discuss two programs for children aimed at improving knowledge of science and technology.
Speaker
James E. West is currently Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering (2002). He was formally a Bell Laboratories Fellow, at Lucent Technologies. His pioneering research on charge storage and transport in polymers (the electrical analogy of a permanent magnet) led to the development of electret transducers for sound recording and voice communication. Almost 90% of all microphones built today are based on the principles first published in the early 1960s. This simple but rugged transducer is the heart of most new telephones and can be found in most microphone applications from toys to professional equipment. West holds more than 50 U.S. and about 200 foreign patents on various microphones and techniques for making polymer electrets and transducers. He was inducted into The National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999 for the invention of the electret microphone. West is a member of the National Academy of Engineering; a Fellow, and past President, and past member of the Executive Council of Acoustical Society of America (1998-2001), and a Fellow of the IEEE. West is a member of the Board of Directors of The National Inventors Hall of Fame, past member of the National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Diversity in the Engineering Workforce and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of The International Symposium on Electrets. West is the recipient of the Acoustical Society of America's Silver Medal in Engineering Acoustics (1995), an honorary Doctor of Science degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology (1997). In 2002 he was the Audio Engineering Society Richard C. Heyser Memorial Lecturer. West was awarded the Mexican JOHN WILLIAM STRUTT, 3rd Baron of Raleigh 2003 Award, presented by the Mexican Institute of Acoustics, the Acoustical Society of America’s Gold Medal (2006), an honorary Doctor of Engineering from Michigan State University (2006), the National Medal of Technology (2006) and the Franklin Medal in Engineering (2010)..
Distribution Flyer
To view a (near) full-size image of the flyer distributed to advertise this Sigma Series Lecture, click on the miniature version of the flyer below.
For more information, contact Julie Williams-Byrd, x4-1629 (julie.a.williams-byrd@nasa.gov). Last Updated: January 23, 2012 10:00 AM EDT.
http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/Lectures/sigma/s-120207.htm
