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[[Image:US Patent 3118022 - Gerhard M. Sessler James E. West - Bell labs - electroacustic transducer - foil electret condenser microphone 1962 1964 - pages 1-3.png|thumb|280x140px|right|First patent on foil electret microphone by G. M. Sessler and J. E. West (pages 1 to 3)]]
[[Image:US Patent 3118022 - Gerhard M. Sessler James E. West - Bell labs - electroacustic transducer - foil electret condenser microphone 1962 1964 - pages 1-3.png|thumb|280x140px|right|First patent on foil electret microphone by G. M. Sessler and J. E. West (pages 1 to 3)]]


West was born on February 10, 1931, in [[Farmville, Virginia|Farmville]], [[Prince Edward County, Virginia]] as the elder of two children to Samuel Edward and Matilda West. He was born in his maternal grandfather's house because the local hospital would not admit African-Americans. His father worked at various points as a funeral home owner, an insurance salesman, and as a [[Pullman porter]] on the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]. His mother was a schoolteacher who worked at [[Langley Air Force Base]] during World War II; she later lost her job due to her involvement in the [[NAACP]] and became one of the "[[Hidden Figures]]" (African-American human computers who worked for [[NASA]] at [[Langley Research Center]]). His maternal grandmother, who was formerly enslaved, was a major influence on him; she raised him while his mother was doing the renegade and was away teaching at a Native American reservation in Pennsylvania. He became interested in electricity after taking a job aged twelve installing electrical wiring in homes in rural Virginia with his cousin.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Kates Varghese |first1=Hilary |title=Being a Black Scholar – James West |url=https://acousticstoday.org/being-a-black-scholar-james-west/ |website=Acoustics Today |date=December 2, 2020 |access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="thehistorymakers">{{cite web|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/james-west|title=James West's Biography|publisher=The HistoryMakers|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref><ref name="arstechnica">{{cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/listen-up-james-west-forever-changed-the-way-we-hear-the-world/|title=Listen up: James West forever changed the way we hear the world|work=Ars Technica|first=Kevibn|last=Murnane|date=September 5, 2016|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref><ref name="jhm">{{cite magazine|url=https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0903web/west.html|title= Sound reasoning|magazine=Johns Hopkins Magazine|date=September 2003|first1=Joanne|last1=Cavanaugh Simpson|first2=Bill|last2=Denison|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref>
West was born on February 10, 1931, in [[Farmville, Virginia|Farmville]], [[Prince Edward County, Virginia]] as the elder of two children to Samuel Edward and Matilda West. He was born in his maternal grandfather's house because the local hospital would not admit African-Americans. His father worked at various points as a funeral home owner, an insurance salesman, and as a [[Pullman porter]] on the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]. His mother was a schoolteacher who worked at [[Langley Air Force Base]] during World War II; she later lost her job due to her involvement in the [[NAACP]] and became one of the "[[Hidden Figures]]" (African-American human computers who worked for [[NASA]] at [[Langley Research Center]]). His maternal grandmother, who was formerly enslaved, was a major influence on him; she raised him while his mother was away teaching at a Native American reservation in Pennsylvania. He became interested in electricity after taking a job aged twelve installing electrical wiring in homes in rural Virginia with his cousin.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last1=Kates Varghese |first1=Hilary |title=Being a Black Scholar – James West |url=https://acousticstoday.org/being-a-black-scholar-james-west/ |website=Acoustics Today |date=December 2, 2020 |access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="thehistorymakers">{{cite web|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/james-west|title=James West's Biography|publisher=The HistoryMakers|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref><ref name="arstechnica">{{cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/listen-up-james-west-forever-changed-the-way-we-hear-the-world/|title=Listen up: James West forever changed the way we hear the world|work=Ars Technica|first=Kevibn|last=Murnane|date=September 5, 2016|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref><ref name="jhm">{{cite magazine|url=https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0903web/west.html|title= Sound reasoning|magazine=Johns Hopkins Magazine|date=September 2003|first1=Joanne|last1=Cavanaugh Simpson|first2=Bill|last2=Denison|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref>


After attending school in Farmville, his parents moved him to [[Phenix High School]] in [[Hampton, Virginia]] for better opportunities; he was to have attended [[Robert Russa Moton Museum|Robert Russa Moton High School]]. After graduating high school he attended [[Hampton University]] on a pre-medical track, before being drafted into the U.S. Army in the [[Korean War]], where he received a [[Purple Heart]] due to being wounded there. He then became a pacifist and attended [[Temple University]] learning Physics, where he was initially rejected from study groups due to his race, only being invited to join them after solving the most complex group problems on his own. At Temple he read works by [[Leon Trotsky]] and attended [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther]] meetings.<ref name="thehistorymakers" /><ref name="arstechnica" /><ref name="jhm" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_colloquiumWest.html|title=Through a Filter to a Mark on Society|publisher=Langley Research Center|date=February 8, 2012|first=Bob|last=Allen|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref> As a graduate student he did a summer internship with [[Bell Laboratories]] where he began designing work on the [[Electret microphone]]. He completed bachelor's and master's coursework in [[Physics]] at Temple University by 1957 but did not officially graduate because he returned to Bell Laboratories to continue work on the microphone in November of that year.<ref name="arstechnica" /><ref name="jhm" />
After attending school in Farmville, his parents moved him to [[Phenix High School]] in [[Hampton, Virginia]] for better opportunities; he was to have attended [[Robert Russa Moton Museum|Robert Russa Moton High School]]. After graduating high school he attended [[Hampton University]] on a pre-medical track, before being drafted into the U.S. Army in the [[Korean War]], where he received a [[Purple Heart]] due to being wounded there. He then became a pacifist and attended [[Temple University]] learning Physics, where he was initially rejected from study groups due to his race, only being invited to join them after solving the most complex group problems on his own. At Temple he read works by [[Leon Trotsky]] and attended [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther]] meetings.<ref name="thehistorymakers" /><ref name="arstechnica" /><ref name="jhm" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/researchernews/rn_colloquiumWest.html|title=Through a Filter to a Mark on Society|publisher=Langley Research Center|date=February 8, 2012|first=Bob|last=Allen|access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref> As a graduate student he did a summer internship with [[Bell Laboratories]] where he began designing work on the [[Electret microphone]]. He completed bachelor's and master's coursework in [[Physics]] at Temple University by 1957 but did not officially graduate because he returned to Bell Laboratories to continue work on the microphone in November of that year.<ref name="arstechnica" /><ref name="jhm" />

Revision as of 18:59, 14 February 2023

James West
Born (1931-02-10) February 10, 1931 (age 93)
Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States
Alma materHampton University, Temple University
AwardsASA Gold Medal (2006)
National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2006)
John Scott Medal (2018)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, Electrical Engineering
InstitutionsBell Labs
Johns Hopkins University

James Edward Maceo West (born February 10, 1931) is an American inventor and acoustician. He holds over 250 foreign and U.S. patents for the production and design of microphones and techniques for creating polymer foil electrets.

Personal life

First patent on foil electret microphone by G. M. Sessler and J. E. West (pages 1 to 3)

West was born on February 10, 1931, in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia as the elder of two children to Samuel Edward and Matilda West. He was born in his maternal grandfather's house because the local hospital would not admit African-Americans. His father worked at various points as a funeral home owner, an insurance salesman, and as a Pullman porter on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. His mother was a schoolteacher who worked at Langley Air Force Base during World War II; she later lost her job due to her involvement in the NAACP and became one of the "Hidden Figures" (African-American human computers who worked for NASA at Langley Research Center). His maternal grandmother, who was formerly enslaved, was a major influence on him; she raised him while his mother was away teaching at a Native American reservation in Pennsylvania. He became interested in electricity after taking a job aged twelve installing electrical wiring in homes in rural Virginia with his cousin.[1][2][3][4]

After attending school in Farmville, his parents moved him to Phenix High School in Hampton, Virginia for better opportunities; he was to have attended Robert Russa Moton High School. After graduating high school he attended Hampton University on a pre-medical track, before being drafted into the U.S. Army in the Korean War, where he received a Purple Heart due to being wounded there. He then became a pacifist and attended Temple University learning Physics, where he was initially rejected from study groups due to his race, only being invited to join them after solving the most complex group problems on his own. At Temple he read works by Leon Trotsky and attended Black Panther meetings.[2][3][4][5] As a graduate student he did a summer internship with Bell Laboratories where he began designing work on the Electret microphone. He completed bachelor's and master's coursework in Physics at Temple University by 1957 but did not officially graduate because he returned to Bell Laboratories to continue work on the microphone in November of that year.[3][4]

In 2001, West retired from Lucent Technologies after a distinguished 40-year career at Bell Laboratories where he received the organization's highest honor, being named a Bell Laboratories Fellow. West then joined the faculty of the Whiting School at Johns Hopkins University where he is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 2007, West received an honorary doctorate from NJIT.[3][4][6]

He has four children with his wife Marlene.[2]

Inventions and scientific contributions

Along with Gerhard Sessler, West invented the foil electret microphone in 1962 while developing instruments for human hearing research.[7][8] Compared to the previous condenser microphones, the electret microphone has higher capacitance and does not require a DC bias.[9] West and Sessler optimized the mechanical and surface parameters of the system.[10] Nearly 90 percent of more than two billion microphones produced annually are based on the principles of the foil-electret and are used in everyday items such as telephones, camcorders, hearing aids, baby monitors, and audio recording devices among others.[11] West measured the acoustics of Philharmonic Hall in New York City.[12] Recently, West teamed with Ilene Busch-Vishniac and studied the acoustic environment of hospitals showing that hospitals are in general too loud and that the noise levels affect staff and patients.[13] West has over 250 patents to his name.[14] At Johns Hopkins, he has worked on a device to detect pneumonia in lungs of young children.[14]

Supporting minorities in the sciences

In addition to his multiple contributions to acoustical science, throughout his career West has been a fervent advocate for greater diversity in the fields of science and technology.[15] While at Bell Laboratories, West co-founded the Association of Black Laboratory Employees (ABLE), an organization formed to "address placement and promotional concerns of Black Bell Laboratories employees."[16] He was also instrumental in the creation and development of both the Corporate Research Fellowship Program (CRFP) for graduate students pursuing terminal degrees in the sciences, as well as the Summer Research Program, which together provided opportunities for over 500 non-white graduate students.[7][17] Since 2015, West has served on the board of directors of the Ingenuity Project, a Baltimore non-profit that supports talented middle and high school students in science and math.[18]

Awards

West is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation,[19] and in 2010, along with Gerhard M. Sessler, West was the recipient of The Franklin Institute's Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1998 for "electret transducers and their applications to microphones"[20][21] and was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999.[22] and He is also the recipient of numerous other honors and awards such as the Silver Medal in Engineering Acoustics from the Acoustical Society of America.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Kates Varghese, Hilary (December 2, 2020). "Being a Black Scholar – James West". Acoustics Today. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "James West's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Murnane, Kevibn (September 5, 2016). "Listen up: James West forever changed the way we hear the world". Ars Technica. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Cavanaugh Simpson, Joanne; Denison, Bill (September 2003). "Sound reasoning". Johns Hopkins Magazine. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  5. ^ Allen, Bob (February 8, 2012). "Through a Filter to a Mark on Society". Langley Research Center. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  6. ^ "A Special Dual Presentation | Technology and Society Forum". tsf.njit.edu. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Ainissa Ramirez (February 7, 2022). "Jim West's marvellous microphone". Chemistry World. Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  8. ^ "James Edward West". Cpnas.org. 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  9. ^ Sessler, G. M.; West, J. E. (December 1, 1966). "Foil‐Electret Microphones". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 40 (6): 1433–1440. Bibcode:1966ASAJ...40.1433S. doi:10.1121/1.1910245. ISSN 0001-4966.
  10. ^ Sessler, G. M.; West, J. E. (June 1, 1965). "Electrostatic Microphones with Foil Electret". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 37 (6): 1209–1210. Bibcode:1965ASAJ...37S1209S. doi:10.1121/1.1939579. ISSN 0001-4966.
  11. ^ "James B. West of WSE receives Benjamin Franklin Medal : Johns Hopkins University – The Gazette". Gazette.jhu.edu. May 10, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  12. ^ Schroeder, M. R.; Atal, B. S.; Sessler, G. M.; West, J. E. (August 1, 1966). "Acoustical Measurements in Philharmonic Hall (New York)". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 40 (2): 434–440. Bibcode:1966ASAJ...40..434S. doi:10.1121/1.1910092. ISSN 0001-4966. S2CID 120385454.
  13. ^ Busch-Vishniac, Ilene J.; West, James E.; Barnhill, Colin; Hunter, Tyrone; Orellana, Douglas; Chivukula, Ram (December 1, 2005). "Noise levels in Johns Hopkins Hospital". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 118 (6): 3629–3645. Bibcode:2005ASAJ..118.3629B. doi:10.1121/1.2118327. ISSN 0001-4966. PMID 16419808.
  14. ^ a b Britto, Brittany (June 19, 2018). "At 87, this Baltimore inventor has 250 patents to his name – and he's still at it". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  15. ^ "Ian Moss: America's Diversity Can Provide Prosperity". Huffingtonpost.com. April 21, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  16. ^ "ABLE History -Leaders of African Descent". Ableinc.org. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  17. ^ "James Edward West: Electret Microphone Inventor". www.black-inventor.com. 2008. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  18. ^ "Our Team". The Ingenuity Project. The Ingenuity Project. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  19. ^ "James Edward West Pictures - Bush Presents National Medals Of Science And Techno". July 27, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
  20. ^ "Dr. James e. West".
  21. ^ "National Academy of Engineering Members Directory". Nae.edu. 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  22. ^ "NIHF Inductee James West Invented the Electronic Microphone". National Inventors Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
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