electronics engineer
Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active component, active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control e ...
, an expert in
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ran ...
technology. He is the founder (1973) of
Compact Software
Compact Software was the first commercially successful microwave computer-aided design (CAD) company. The company was founded in 1973 by Les Besser to commercialize his eponymous program COMPACT (Computerized Optimization of Microwave Passive and ...
, the first commercially successful microwave computer-aided design (CAD) company, which commercialize his program COMPACT (Computerized Optimization of Microwave Passive and Active CircuiTs).Les Besser bio at Microwaves 101 Hall of FameLes Besser bio at Besser Associates
Les Besser was born and raised in Hungary (
interbellum
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Hungary and
Hungarian People's Republic
The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949
to 23 October 1989.
It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet Uni ...
). In 1956 he escaped to the West and became a
Canadian citizen
Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...
in 1971. Later he moved to the United States, graduated from the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
, and in 2000 he
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
(1966–1969), using the
BASIC
BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
computer language and
time-sharing
In computing, time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users at the same time by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking.DEC Timesharing (1965), by Peter Clark, The DEC Professional, Volume 1, Number 1
Its emergence a ...
computers. After leaving HP, he joined the newly formed microwave division of
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of int ...
, where he authored his first-generation program, SPEEDY,SPEEDY at Microwaves 101 Besser later converted another program, originally written for his graduate thesis work, to run on a commercial time-share system and launched a part-time business, Compact Engineering (later renamed Compact Software). Besser submitted the description of COMPACT to
''
IEEE Transactions The publications of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) constitute around 30% of the world literature in the electrical and electronics engineering and computer science fields, publishing well over 100 peer-reviewed journa ...
on Circuit Theory'' in 1972, but it was initially rejected and accepted after addition of large amount of mathematics into it. Besser was associated with development of COMPACT until 1983. In 1985 Besser founded Besser Associates, a company that offers education in microwave technology. He also co-authored a number of textbooks on the subject. In 2004 he retired and sold the company, but continued to occasionally teach courses.
In 2013, The Hewlett Packard Memory Project published Les Besser's two-volume memoirs, ''Hurdling to Freedom: A Hungarian's Escape to America'', downloadable from the Project's website.
Awards and recognition
*
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
Life Fellow
*1983: IEEE MTT "Microwave Applications Award"
*1987: IEEE RFTG "Career Award"
*2000: IEEE "Third Centennial Medal"
*2006: IEEE Educational Activities Board's "Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education"
*2007: IEEE MTT "Distinguished Educator" award