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 February 10, 1931) is an American inventor and acoustician. An acoustician is a scientist who studies sound. He holds over 250 patents in the U.S. and other countries. These patents are for designing and making microphones. He also invented ways to create special materials called polymer foil electrets used in microphones.
Contents
Early Life and First Interests
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 selling insurance. His mother was a schoolteacher. During World War II, she worked at Langley Air Force Base. She was one of the "Hidden Figures" – smart Black women who worked for NASA. They helped with important space missions but often did not get much credit.
James's grandmother, who had been enslaved, was a big influence on him. She helped raise him when his mother was away teaching. James became interested in electricity when he was twelve years old. He got a job installing electrical wires in homes with his cousin.
Education and Military Service
After finishing 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. After the war, he went to Temple University to study physics. At first, some students did not want him in their study groups because of his race. But soon, they invited him when they saw he could solve even the hardest problems by himself.
While he was a student, he interned at Bell Laboratories. There, he started working on 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 his invention.
A Career at Bell Labs
In 2001, James West retired from Lucent Technologies. This was after a great 40-year career at Bell Laboratories. He received the highest honor there, being named a Bell Laboratories Fellow. After retiring, West joined Johns Hopkins University. He is now a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 2007, he received an honorary doctorate degree. He has four children with his wife, Marlene.
Amazing 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 much better than older ones. It had a higher ability to store an electrical charge and did not need a special power source.
West and Sessler made the microphone even better by improving its parts. Today, almost 90 percent of all microphones made each year use their invention. You can find these microphones in many everyday items. They are in telephones, camcorders, hearing aids, baby monitors, and audio recorders.
West also measured the sound quality of Philharmonic Hall in New York City. In 2005, he worked on a study about noise in hospitals. He found that hospitals were often too loud. This noise affected both the staff and the patients.
At Johns Hopkins, he has worked on a device to help doctors find pneumonia in the lungs of young children. His research 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.
Helping Others 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 helped Black employees with job placement and promotions.
He also helped create two important programs. The Corporate Research Fellowship Program 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 group in Baltimore helps talented middle and high school students in science and math. James West is known for being a mentor to students. He actively starts and joins programs that encourage more minorities and women to enter science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
Awards and Honors
James West has received many important awards. He was given the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. In 2010, he and Gerhard M. Sessler received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering from The Franklin Institute.
He was chosen as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1998. This was for his work on electret transducers and their use in microphones. In 1999, he was also added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He has also received the Silver Medal in Engineering Acoustics from the Acoustical Society of America.
Images for kids
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James West
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First patent on foil electret microphone
See also
In Spanish: James Edward Maceo West para niños
