Kenneth Bruce Ross (August 21, 1897 – July 12, 1959) was an inventor and businessman who is best known for the development of an automated manufacturing process for the reliable production of quartz crystals used in radios.
Life history
Kenneth Ross was born in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, but spent most of his childhood living with his uncle in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
. He lied about his age to join the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. His first posting was in
Williams, Arizona
Williams ( yuf-x-hav, Wii Gvʼul) is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, located west of Flagstaff. Its population was 3,023 at the 2010 census. It lies on the routes of Historic Route 66 and Interstate 40. It is also the souther ...
. As part of his Army service, he fought against
. During his time in the Army, Ross was fortunate enough to work with the
Marconi radios utilized by the
Signal Corps.
Shortly after the completion of his military service, Ross moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
where he founded the
Ross Manufacturing Company. Its primary product was the production and installation of radio components and systems. Customers included such notables as the
P.K. Wrigley
Philip Knight Wrigley (December 5, 1894 – April 12, 1977), often called P. K. Wrigley, was an American chewing gum manufacturer and a Major League Baseball executive, inheriting both of those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant fa ...
family. While installing a custom made radio system in their Chicago home, he met his future wife
Gudrun Saetveit, a concert pianist providing instruction to the Wrigley children.
Kenneth Ross was an aviation enthusiast, who counted
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
as one of his friends. Ross owned several airplanes throughout his life. He was killed on July 12, 1959 in
Durango, Colorado
Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...
after the airplane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff.
Business
The Ross Manufacturing Company employed approximately 500 people. In order to satisfy the communications demands of Allied Forces during World War II, Ross converted one of his plants in Chicago to a facility for making
FT-243 crystal units. Ross developed a process to automatically and accurately tune the FT-243 quartz crystals in a shorter time while using far less labor. Prior to the development of his process, all crystals had to be polished by hand in order to ensure proper tuning. As a result, his factory was able to produce more high quality radio crystals faster than most other companies in the US. Ross never patented the process. It was shared freely with other radio crystal manufacturers as he deemed it his patriotic duty.
[Bottom, V:]
"A History of the Quartz Crystal Industry in the USA"
, Proceedings of the 35th Annual Frequency Control Symposium, pp.3-12, 1981 Ross produced a short technical film detailing each step in the process, making it possible for others to easily copy it. His production method had a direct impact on the improved reliability of radio communications in both European and Asian theaters of war.
References
1897 births
1959 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American engineers
American inventors
{{US-inventor-stub