James West (inventor) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
James West
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| Born | February 10, 1931 |
| Alma mater | Hampton University, Temple University |
| Awards | ASA Gold Medal (2006) National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2006) John Scott Medal (2018) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, Electrical Engineering |
| Institutions | Bell Labs Johns Hopkins University |
James Edward Maceo West, born on February 10, 1931, is an American inventor. He is also an acoustician, which means he studies sound. He has invented many things, especially related to microphones. He holds over 250 patents in the U.S. and other countries for his inventions. These patents cover how to make and design microphones, including a special type called a polymer foil electret.
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Growing Up
James West was born on February 10, 1931, in Farmville, Virginia. He was the older of two children. He was born at his grandfather's house because the local hospital did not allow Black people to be admitted.
His father worked in different jobs, including owning a funeral home and selling insurance. He also worked as a Pullman porter on trains. James's mother was a schoolteacher. During World War II, she worked at Langley Air Force Base. She later lost her job because she was involved with the NAACP, a group that worked for civil rights. She was one of the "Hidden Figures" – Black astrophysicists who worked for NASA but did not always get credit.
James's maternal grandmother, who had been enslaved, helped raise him. She was a big influence on his life. When he was twelve, he became interested in electricity. He took a job with his cousin installing electrical wiring in homes in rural Virginia.
Education and Early Career
After attending school in Farmville, his parents moved him to Phenix High School in Hampton, Virginia. They wanted him to have better opportunities. After high school, he went to Hampton University to study medicine. However, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was wounded there and received a Purple Heart medal.
Later, he studied physics at Temple University. At first, some study groups did not want him because of his race. But soon, they invited him to join. This happened after he showed he could solve even the hardest problems on his own.
While he was a student, he worked as an intern at Bell Laboratories. There, he started designing the Electret microphone. He finished his bachelor's and master's courses in physics by 1957. He did not officially graduate then because he returned to Bell Laboratories to keep working on the microphone.
Later Life and Work
In 2001, James West retired from Lucent Technologies. He had worked for 40 years at Bell Laboratories. He received the highest honor from the organization, being named a Bell Laboratories Fellow.
After retiring, West joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University. He is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from NJIT. He has four children with his wife, Marlene.
Key Inventions and Discoveries
In 1962, James West and Gerhard Sessler invented the foil electret microphone. They created it while working on tools to study human hearing. This new microphone was better than older ones. It had higher capacitance and did not need a special power source called a DC bias. West and Sessler made the microphone's parts and surfaces work perfectly together.
Today, almost 90 percent of the microphones made each year use the ideas from their foil-electret design. These microphones are in many everyday items. You can find them in telephones, camcorders, hearing aids, baby monitors, and audio recording devices.
West also measured the sound quality of Philharmonic Hall in New York City. In 2005, he worked with Ilene Busch-Vishniac on a study. They found that hospitals are often too loud. This noise can affect both staff and patients.
At Johns Hopkins, he has worked on a device to find pneumonia in the lungs of young children. His research there also includes making teleconferencing better. He wants to send stereophonic sound (sound that seems to come from different directions) over the internet. He also works on new transducers, which are devices that change energy from one form to another, like sound into electrical signals.
Supporting Diversity in Science
Throughout his career, James West has strongly supported more diversity in science and technology. While at Bell Laboratories, he helped start the Association of Black Laboratory Employees (ABLE). This group worked to help Black employees with job placement and promotions.
He also helped create and develop two important programs. The Corporate Research Fellowship Program (CRFP) helped graduate students get advanced degrees in science. The Summer Research Program gave opportunities to over 500 non-white graduate students.
Since 2015, West has been on the board of directors for the Ingenuity Project. This is a non-profit group in Baltimore. It helps talented middle and high school students in science and math. West is known for being a mentor to students. He is active in programs that encourage more minorities and women to enter fields like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Awards and Honors
James West has received many awards. He was given the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 2010, he and Gerhard M. Sessler received The Franklin Institute's Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering.
In 1998, he was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Engineering. This was for his work on "electret transducers and their applications to microphones." He was also added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999. He has received many other honors, including the Silver Medal in Engineering Acoustics from the Acoustical Society of America.
See also
In Spanish: James Edward Maceo West para niños
