Andrew H. Bobeck (October 1, 1926 – December 14, 2017)[1] was a Bell Labs researcher best known for his invention of bubble memory.

Andrew H. Bobeck
Born(1926-10-01)October 1, 1926
Tower Hill, Pennsylvania
DiedDecember 14, 2017(2017-12-14) (aged 91)
Alma materPurdue University
OccupationResearcher
EmployerBell Laboratories
Known forInvention of bubble memory

Bobeck was born in Tower Hill, Pennsylvania.

In 1975, Bobeck was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to the field of magnetic bubbles that have produced a new class of electronic devices.

Education

edit

In 1948, Bobeck earned a Bachelor of Science degree in EE from Purdue University. In 1949, Bobeck earned a Master of Science degree in EE from Purdue University.[2]

Career

edit

Bobeck was a member of United States Navy's V12 Program.[2]

In 1949, Bobeck joined Bell Laboratories.[2] Bobeck helped design communication and pulse transformers and then one of the first solid-state digital computers. Starting in 1956 he devoted his efforts to the development of magnetic logic and memory devices. He invented the twistor memory in the late 1950s, and in the late 1960s bubble memory based on magnetic domains in orthoferrites and garnets. In 1989 he retired from AT&T's Bell Labs.[3]

Bobeck held more than 120 patents, and was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an IEEE Fellow. He received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Purdue in 1972, the 1975 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award, and the 1987 IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award. He was also presented with the Stuart Ballantine Medal for Computer Sciences by The Franklin Institute in 1973.

Selected works

edit
  • Bobeck, Andrew H. (1958). "New Concept in Large‐Size Memory Arrays—the Twistor". Journal of Applied Physics. 29 (3). AIP Publishing: 485–486. Bibcode:1958JAP....29..485B. doi:10.1063/1.1723190. ISSN 0021-8979.
  • "New twist in memory devices", Science, Volume 127, Number 3293, 7 February 1958.[unreliable source?]
  • Bobeck, A.H.; Bonyhard, P.I.; Geusic, J.E. (1975). "Magnetic bubbles—An emerging new memory technology". Proceedings of the IEEE. 63 (8). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): 1176–1195. doi:10.1109/proc.1975.9912. ISSN 0018-9219. S2CID 25196430.
  • Andrew H. Bobeck and H. E. D. Scovil, "Magnetic Bubbles", Scientific American 78, 224, (June 1971).
  • Short 1979 Western promotional film featuring Bobeck

Awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Five Dots October 2001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  2. ^ a b c d "Dr. Andrew H. Bobeck". engineering.purdue.edu. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "A Better Bubble Memory". The New York Times. July 28, 1979. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "IEEE Fellows from the Magnetics Society". ieeemagnetics.org. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "IEEE W.R.G Baker Award". ethw.org. 19 February 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "Andrew H. Bobeck". fi.edu. 1973. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
edit