Frederick B. Llewellyn
Encyclopedia
Dr. Frederick Britton Llewellyn (September 16, 1897 - December 10, 1971) was a noted American electrical engineer.
Llewellyn was born in New Orleans, Louisiana
. He took a course at the Marconi School for Wireless Operators in 1915, spent some three years in the merchant marine, and almost a year in the Navy in 1917-1918. He then studied under Professor Alan Hazeltine at Stevens Institute of Technology
, receiving his M.E. degree in 1922.
After a year as laboratory assistant to Dr. F. K. Vreeland, he joined Western Electric
in 1923, transferring in 1925 to Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he worked on the long-wave transatlantic telephone based in Rocky Point
, Long Island
. From 1924-1928 he studied at Columbia University
, receiving his Ph.D. in 1928.
Llewellyn helped develop the first public ship-to-shore telephone
service, inaugurated in 1929 on the SS Leviathan
. In the 1930s he studied noise in vacuum tube
s and constant-frequency oscillators, and researched the behavior of vacuum tubes at very high frequencies. During World War II
, he served as a consultant to the Office of Secretary of War. He and Edwin H. Armstrong designed a sensitive receiver used to detect a radar
signal reflected from the moon (Project Diana
). After the war, he served as a consulting engineer, primarily on military electronics systems, assistant to the President of Bell Telephone Laboratories 1956-1961, affiliate of the Institute of Science and Technology at the University of Michigan
1961-1965, and research director of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn 1965 until retirement in 1967.
Llewellyn was president of the Institute of Radio Engineers
in 1946, and awarded the 1936 IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award
for his results on high-frequency electronics and constant-frequency oscillators.
Patents : "High frequency tank circuit" (Bell Telephone Laboratories) : "Guided wave transmission" (Bell Telephone Laboratories)
Llewellyn was born in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. He took a course at the Marconi School for Wireless Operators in 1915, spent some three years in the merchant marine, and almost a year in the Navy in 1917-1918. He then studied under Professor Alan Hazeltine at Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...
, receiving his M.E. degree in 1922.
After a year as laboratory assistant to Dr. F. K. Vreeland, he joined Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
in 1923, transferring in 1925 to Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he worked on the long-wave transatlantic telephone based in Rocky Point
Rocky Point, New York
Rocky Point is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 10,185.Rocky Point is a community in the town of Brookhaven.-Geography:...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. From 1924-1928 he studied at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, receiving his Ph.D. in 1928.
Llewellyn helped develop the first public ship-to-shore telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service, inaugurated in 1929 on the SS Leviathan
SS Leviathan
SS Leviathan, originally built as SS Vaterland, was an ocean liner which regularly sailed the North Atlantic briefly in 1914 and from 1917 to 1934...
. In the 1930s he studied noise in vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s and constant-frequency oscillators, and researched the behavior of vacuum tubes at very high frequencies. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he served as a consultant to the Office of Secretary of War. He and Edwin H. Armstrong designed a sensitive receiver used to detect a radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
signal reflected from the moon (Project Diana
Project Diana
Project Diana, named for the Roman moon goddess Diana — goddess of the hunt, wild animals and the moon — was a project of the US Army Signal Corps to bounce radio signals off the moon and receive the reflected signals...
). After the war, he served as a consulting engineer, primarily on military electronics systems, assistant to the President of Bell Telephone Laboratories 1956-1961, affiliate of the Institute of Science and Technology at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
1961-1965, and research director of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn 1965 until retirement in 1967.
Llewellyn was president of the Institute of Radio Engineers
Institute of Radio Engineers
The Institute of Radio Engineers was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until January 1, 1963, when it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers .-Founding:Following several attempts to form a...
in 1946, and awarded the 1936 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...
for his results on high-frequency electronics and constant-frequency oscillators.
Selected works
Books- Electron-Inertia Effects, Cambridge University Press, 1941.
Patents : "High frequency tank circuit" (Bell Telephone Laboratories) : "Guided wave transmission" (Bell Telephone Laboratories)