Remembering Those Lost in 2020

Dec 10, 2020 (Age: 86)

Robert G. Mazur was the founder and CEO of Solid-State Measurements (SSM), Inc. He pioneered several important techniques for controlling the electrical properties of semiconductor materials in microchips used in manufacturing computers, cell phones, and similar devices. In 1970, he founded Solid State Measurements, a Pittsburgh-based high-tech company that designed and manufactured semiconductor test equipment. Bob was given the SEMI Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.

Personal Note: During my semiconductor career, I once spent a week at the SSM plant learning the measurement technology behind the manufacturing of epitaxial layers onto silicon wafers.

Dec 07, 2020 (Age: 97)

Chuck Yeager – Conqueror of the Speed Barrier – Passes at 97 - Distinguished veteran epitomized the rugged pilot who constantly tested the boundaries of flight – and survived.

Dec 1, 2020 (Age: 88)

Abramson and his team were responsible for creating ALOHAnet, an early wireless network whose innovative techniques led to modern satellite, phone, and computer networks. The ALOHAnet was created by Abramson and his collaborator Franklin Kuo, while teaching at the University of Hawaii (UH). The ALOHAnet was like the wired ARPAnet, which served as the basis for the internet. In contrast, the ALOHAnet was designed as a system to connect UH to other colleges and universities to share research. Some of the protocols and technologies that originated in the ALOHAnet project would go on to be used in the development of Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

Nov 12, 2020 (Age: 94)

Masatoshi Koshiba was a Japanese physicist and one of the founders of neutrino astronomy. His work with the neutrino detectors Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande was instrumental in detecting solar neutrinos, providing experimental evidence for the solar neutrino problem. In 2002, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics (jointly with Raymond Davis Jr.) "for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos".

Sep 21, 2020 (Age: 98)

Arthur Ashkin, Ph.D., won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018 for pioneering “optical tweezers” that use laser light to capture and manipulate microscopic particles. While it isn’t quite like the tractor beams used in sci-fi movies, his optical tweezers used the pressure of light in a laser beam to seize and manipulate microscopic objects, from atoms to living cells.

Aug 4, 2020 (Age: 88)

Compiler Pioneer Leaves Higher Legacy - Frances E. Allen’s work in compiler optimization paved the way for higher-level languages required for modern computer programming.

Jul 26, 2020 (Age: 91

William Kirk English contributed to the development of the computer mouse while working for Douglas Engelbart at SRI International's Augmentation Research Center. It was English’s design and construction that made Engelbart’s concept into a reality by enabling computer users to control their machines without keyboards or punch cards for the first time. He would later work for Xerox PARC and Sun Microsystems.

Jul 15, 2020 (Age: 89)

Manufacturing Critical to Young Design Engineers - Electronics industry veteran offered insights to design engineers on the importance of understanding the manufacturing process.

Jul 13, 2020 (Age: 49)

Tribute to Engineering Star Grant Imahara -The engineering community mourns the loss and remembers the accomplishments of one of its best gadget freaks.

Feb 28, 2020 (Age: 96)

Freeman Dyson, the Great Tidier, Lived Between Two Worlds -The recent death of Dr. Dyson reminds us of his contributions to quantum electrodynamics and biotechnology plus warnings about mankind’s future.

Feb 24, 2020 (Age: 101)

Katherine Johnson Was the Hidden Figure That Put Man on the Moon - As a mathematician who broke barriers at NASA, her calculations of the orbital mechanics for Project Mercury were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist". Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars. She was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson as a lead character in the 2016 film Hidden Figures. In 2019, Johnson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Feb 16, 2020 (74)

Larry Tesler’s Copy-Paste A Mixed Blessing For The Software World - Software programmers and computer engineers must be especially cautious with Tesler’s gift.

26 January 2020 (94)

One of the great mathematicians who figured out the equations necessary in describing the vibrating of strings, the flow of heat, and the movement of water. He transformed the field of partial differential equations with his proof of the strong maximum principle for second-order parabolic partial differential equations.