Jack Kilby
Jack Kilby was born in 1923 in Great Bend, Kansas. His father ran a small electrical company and his also worked as a an amateur radio operator. Jack Kilby thought that amateur radio was a fascinating subject, it sparked his interest in electronics. After high school he studied electrical engineering at the University of Illinois. Most of his classes were in electrical power, but he also took some vacuum tube engineering physics classes.He graduated in 1947, just one year before Bell Labs announced the invention of the transistor.
It meant that his vacuum tube classes were about to be come obsolete, but it offered great opportunities to put my physics studies to good use. He then hired on with an electronics manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that made parts for radios, televisions and hearing aids. While in Milwaukee, he took evening classes at the University of Wisconsin towards a master's degree in electrical engineering. In 1958, him and his wife moved to Dallas, Texas, where he took job with Texas Instruments. TI was the only company that agreed to let him work on electronic component miniaturization more or less full time, and it turned out to be a great fit.
Also in 1958, Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce(co-inventor) invented the integrated circuit.
After proving that integrated circuits could be made he headed teams that created military supplies and the first computer incorporating integrated circuits. In 1970 he took a leave of absence to do independent work. While on leave, he worked on how to apply silicon technology to help generate electrical power from sunlight. From 1978 to 1984, he spent much of his time as a Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University. The "distinguished" part is in the eye of the beholder, and he really didn't do much "professing." However, he did have a rewarding time doing research and working with students and faculty on various projects. He officially retired from TI in the 1980s, but he still had maintained a significant involvement with the company.
Along the way he was honored to receive awards such as the National Medal of Science and to be inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. "Seeing your name alongside the likes of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers is a very humbling experience." said Jack Kilby. Finally all the worked paid of and he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001. Jack Kilby later on died on June 20, 2005.
It meant that his vacuum tube classes were about to be come obsolete, but it offered great opportunities to put my physics studies to good use. He then hired on with an electronics manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that made parts for radios, televisions and hearing aids. While in Milwaukee, he took evening classes at the University of Wisconsin towards a master's degree in electrical engineering. In 1958, him and his wife moved to Dallas, Texas, where he took job with Texas Instruments. TI was the only company that agreed to let him work on electronic component miniaturization more or less full time, and it turned out to be a great fit.
Also in 1958, Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce(co-inventor) invented the integrated circuit.
After proving that integrated circuits could be made he headed teams that created military supplies and the first computer incorporating integrated circuits. In 1970 he took a leave of absence to do independent work. While on leave, he worked on how to apply silicon technology to help generate electrical power from sunlight. From 1978 to 1984, he spent much of his time as a Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University. The "distinguished" part is in the eye of the beholder, and he really didn't do much "professing." However, he did have a rewarding time doing research and working with students and faculty on various projects. He officially retired from TI in the 1980s, but he still had maintained a significant involvement with the company.
Along the way he was honored to receive awards such as the National Medal of Science and to be inducted in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. "Seeing your name alongside the likes of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers is a very humbling experience." said Jack Kilby. Finally all the worked paid of and he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001. Jack Kilby later on died on June 20, 2005.