Eugene Polley (November 29, 1915 – May 20, 2012) was an electrical engineer and engineering manager for
Zenith Electronics who invented the
first wireless remote control for television.
Life and career
Eugene J. Polley was born November 29, 1915, in
Chicago, Illinois. He attended the
City Colleges of Chicago
The City Colleges of Chicago is the public community college system of the Chicago area. Its colleges offer associate degrees, certificates, free courses for the GED, and free English as a second language (ESL) courses.
The City Colleges system ...
and
Armour Institute of Technology,
but he left before graduating.
In 1935, he was hired as a stock boy for
Zenith Electronics; he moved to the company's parts department, where he created the company's first catalog, then transferred to engineering, where his assignments included work on
radar during
World War II for the
U.S. Department of Defense.
His 1955 invention, marketed as the
Flash-Matic, used visible light to remotely control a television outfitted with four
photocells in the cabinet at the corners of the screen. Aiming the pistol-shaped control at an individual photocell could turn the receiver on and off, mute the sound and change the channel up or down.
Polley also worked on the push-button
car radio and contributed to the development of
video disk
Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...
s.
Polley's career at Zenith included positions as a product engineer and mechanical engineer. Polley later managed its Video Recording Group, then its Advanced Mechanical Design Group; he eventually became Assistant Division Chief for Zenith's Mechanical Engineering Group. He retired after a 47-year career
in which he earned 18 U.S. patents.
Polley and
Robert Adler shared a 1996–1997
Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for "Pioneering Development of Wireless Remote Control for Consumer Television."
In 2009, Polley received the
IEEE Consumer Electronics Award "for contributions to the technology of the wireless remote control for television and other consumer electronic products."
Death
Polley died on May 20, 2012, at
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in
Downers Grove,
Illinois. His death was announced by
Zenith Electronics, for whom he worked from 1935 to 1982.
He was 96.
External links
Inventor of the TV remote control Eugene Polley. Article and Photos
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polley, Eugene
1915 births
2012 deaths
American businesspeople
American electrical engineers
American inventors
United States Department of Defense officials
Emmy Award winners
People from Chicago
Engineers from Illinois