Lanny Smoot (born December 13, 1955) is an American electrical engineer, inventor, scientist, and theatrical technology creator. With over 100 patents, he is Disney's most prolific inventor and one of the most prolific Black inventors in American history. Throughout his career he has worked to inspire young people, especially Black youth, towards

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Biography

Lanny was born in Brooklyn, NY, USA, and later attended Brooklyn Technical High School. He attended Columbia University, supported by a Bell Labs Engineering Scholarship and received his Bachelor's degree in

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He then started work at Bell Communications Research ( Bellcore), and while working at Bell (later Telcordia), he also completed his Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia. Smoot worked at Bell for two decades, where his mentors included

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, co-inventor of the electret microphone. Around 2000, he moved to Disney where he is currently a Disney Research Fellow.

Notable work

At Bell, Smoot was known for his work on early development of video-on-demand and other video and fibre-optic technology. He anticipated a future where anyone could broadcast video. At Disney, Smoot's accomplishments include the drive system for the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

BB-8 droid, interactive zoetropes for facial animation of objects, eye imaging for superhero masks and helmets, “Where’s the Fire?” at Innoventions (Epcot), many Haunted Mansion special effects, virtual interactive koi ponds in

Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...

, Fortress Explorations at Tokyo DisneySea, Power City" in Spaceship Earth (Epcot), and lightsabers for the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience. Other patented inventions include new ride technology and glassless 3D displays.

Biography

Notable work

Recognition

References

Further reading