Andrew H. Bobeck
Encyclopedia
Andrew H. Bobeck is a noted Bell Labs
researcher best known for his invention of bubble memory
.
Bobeck was born in Tower Hill, Pennsylvania, received his B.S. (1948) and M.S. (1949) degrees in electrical engineering
from Purdue University
, and in 1949 joined Bell Laboratories where he 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 orthoferrite
s and garnet
s. In 1989 he retired from AT&T's Bell Labs.
Bobeck holds more than 120 patents, and is 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 1971 Baker Prize
, the Franklin Institute's 1973 Stuart Ballantine Medal, the 1975 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
, and the 1987 IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award.
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
researcher best known for his invention of bubble memory
Bubble memory
Bubble memory is a type of non-volatile computer memory that uses a thin film of a magnetic material to hold small magnetized areas, known as bubbles or domains, each storing one bit of data...
.
Bobeck was born in Tower Hill, Pennsylvania, received his B.S. (1948) and M.S. (1949) degrees in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, and in 1949 joined Bell Laboratories where he 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
Twistor memory
Twistor is a form of computer memory, similar to core memory, formed by wrapping or closing magnetic tape around a current-carrying wire. Although the developers, Bell Labs, had high hopes for Twistor, it was used for only a brief time in the marketplace between about 1968 and the mid-1970s...
in the late 1950s, and in the late 1960s bubble memory
Bubble memory
Bubble memory is a type of non-volatile computer memory that uses a thin film of a magnetic material to hold small magnetized areas, known as bubbles or domains, each storing one bit of data...
based on magnetic domains
Magnetic domains
A magnetic domain describes a region within a magnetic material which has uniform magnetization. This means that the individual magnetic moments of the atoms are aligned with one another and they point in the same direction...
in orthoferrite
Orthoferrite
An orthoferrite is any of a class of chemical compounds with the formula RFeO . Orthoferrites have an orthorhombic crystal structure with a space group Pbnm and most are weakly ferromagnetic....
s and garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
s. In 1989 he retired from AT&T's Bell Labs.
Bobeck holds more than 120 patents, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
and an IEEE Fellow
IEEE Fellow
An IEEE member is elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow for "unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest"...
. He received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Purdue in 1972, the 1971 Baker Prize
Baker Prize
The initially called W.R.G. Baker Award provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers , was created in 1956 from a donation from Dr. Walter R. G. Baker to the IRE. The award continued to be awarded as IEEE W.R.G...
, the Franklin Institute's 1973 Stuart Ballantine Medal, the 1975 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers , the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who had "made public during the recent past an important...
, and the 1987 IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award.
Selected works
- "New Concept in Large-Size Memory Arrays—the Twistor", J. Appl. Phys., Volume 29, Issue 3, pp. 485–486. March 1958.
- "New twist in memory devices", Science, Volume 127, Number 3293, 7 February 1958.
- Andrew H. Bobeck, Peter I. Bonyhard, and Joseph E. Geusic, "Magnetic Bubbles - An Emerging New Memory Technology", Proc. IEEE, vol 63, no 8, p1176-1195.
- Andrew H. Bobeck and H. E. D. Scovil, "Magnetic Bubbles", Scientific American 78, 224, (June 1971).