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Bernard Reich Transistor Museum Historic Profile |
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Recognizing Significant Contributions to 20th Century Semiconductor History and Technology |
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Notable Contributions, Continued |
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Legacy of Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth, NJ, the former home of the Army Signal Corps finally closed down during the latter part of 2011. What seems to be missing is the story of its rich history of achievement and those who were instrumental in making these achievements possible. During and following the WWII years, the engineering portion of Fort Monmouth consisted of Evans Signal Lab, outside of Belmar (where Marconi performed experiments), Coles Signal Lab, outside of Red Bank, and the Squire Signal Lab and the Signal School on the main post. Gone are all of these activities shrinking with the passage of time beginning in the 1930’s just prior to WWII. Looking back, Fort Monmouth led the development of Radio and Radar prior to and during WWII and on to Korea, continuing to the Cold War and Vietnam. In 1946 Radar signals were bounced off the Moon using the Diana Radar which today is still housed at the Evans facility as a monument to this past accomplishment. In the late 1940’s the Army at Fort Monmouth pursued the development of radiological detection equipment including personnel monitoring equipment. At that point in time the Polaroid Land process was also considered as a potential radiological personnel monitor. Later came the Polaroid Camera and Polaroid film. Monmouth personnel were involved in the US atomic testing program in the 1950’s both in Nevada and the Marshall Islands. With the advent of transistors in the early 1950’s scientific personnel at the Fort were instrumental in exploiting this new technology, the forerunner of today’s microchips. Printed circuit production, as a means of miniaturization using discrete parts was another Fort achievement. In the years to follow there were other developments including Miniaturization, Artillery and Mortar Radar, Frequency Control Devices (basis of today’s electronic watches). Thus far I have been impersonal in my description of the Fort. Names I remember and many of these I had direct contact with were: Dr. Richard A. Weiss who became Chief Scientist of the Army, Dr Harold Zahl, who invented the Zahl tube in WWII, Dr Harold Jacobs, who had the vision of the flat panel display (most of today’s TV’s are flat panel), Jack Eggert and Bud Waite who made communications happen at the beachheads of WWII and beyond, Dr. Walter S. McAfee and the Diana Radar, Sal Petrillo who headed the technical division at NATO, Paris and Brussels. At least two IEEE Medal of Honor winners of the 21st Century passed through Fort Monmouth for military obligations, Dr. Nick Holonyak and Dr. James Meindl. The Fort Monmouth Labs spawned many IEEE Fellows during its heyday. In summary the many generations of Fort Monmouth personnel have served well in the Research, Development of Electronic Materiel for the Armed Forces of the United States and its Allies. All of those scientists and their accomplishments must not be forgotten.
Bernard Reich, IEEE Life Fellow, Ocean, NJ. November, 2011
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Curator’s Comments: Fort Monmouth closed on September 15, 2011, after serving as the primary base the nation’s military communications development since it was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1917. This facility was active beginning with WWI, Post-war in the 1920s and 30s, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, and the Gulf Wars. Bernie’s work with the Signal Corps early transistor development programs was done at Fort Monmouth, and the contributions of this effort played an important role in meeting critical military needs with this new technology. |
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More Notable Contributions, Go To Page 5
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COPYRIGHT © 2012 by Jack Ward. All Rights Reserved. http://www.transistormuseum.com TRANSISTOR MUSEUM™ HISTORIC PROFILES – BERNARD REICH PAGE 4 |
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