Laila Ohlgren facts for kids

Laila Ohlgren was a smart Swedish engineer. She helped create mobile phones as we know them today. Working with Östen Mäkitalo, she came up with a brilliant idea. She figured out how phones could remember the number you wanted to call. This meant you could press a single "call" button to connect. This made phone calls much more reliable, especially when you were moving. Her idea changed how mobile phones worked all over the world. In 2009, she won a big award, the Polhem Prize, for her amazing work. She was the first woman to receive it.

Early Life and Education

Laila Ohlgren was born Ragnhild Laila Lillemor Andersson on November 19, 1937. She grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. Her family later changed their last name to Tingshammar. Laila was raised by her mother.

When she was a teenager, she met Bo Viktor Ohlgren. They got married in 1959. They had two sons, Magnus and Håkan. Both of her sons also became engineers, just like their mom.

In 1956, Laila started working at Televerket. This was Sweden's main phone company. Her father-in-law worked there and helped her get the job. While working, Laila also studied at home in the evenings. She worked hard and passed her school exams. She also earned her degree to become an engineer. At Televerket, she was the only woman in her department. She became a project leader. She helped develop new mobile phone technology. From 1969, she worked with Östen Mäkitalo. They worked on the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) project together.

Inventing the Call Button

An early Ericsson Hotline phone. It has the "call button" at the top left.

In 1979, the NMT phone system was almost ready. Laila Ohlgren was doing the final tests. She noticed that phone calls often broke up. This happened when people were moving. Things like trees could block the signal. This made it hard to dial a number correctly.

Laila had a great idea. She thought, "What if the phone could store the number?" Then, you could just press one button to call. This "call button" would send all the numbers at once. This would stop calls from breaking up.

Even though it was a holiday weekend, Laila called Östen Mäkitalo. She asked him to test her idea. They drove around Stockholm. One person drove, and the other made calls. They tested the idea all weekend. They made about a thousand calls. This helped them see if the new solution worked. And it did!

Laila's idea made mobile phones much better. It became a key part of the NMT system. NMT was the first complete mobile phone system in the world. Laila Ohlgren's "call button" idea became a standard all over the world.

Laila kept working at Televerket. The company later became known as Telia. She led a team of 750 employees. She retired in 2005.

In 2009, Laila Ohlgren made history again. She was the first woman to win the Polhem Prize. This award is given by the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers. It came with 250,000 Swedish crowns. Laila Ohlgren passed away on January 6, 2014. She is buried in Skogskyrkogården Cemetery.

Images for kids

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  An early Ericsson Hotline phone. It has the "call button" at the top left.