Bell telephone magazine (1922) (14753848794)

Morgan Sparks (July 6, 1916 – May 3, 2008) was an American scientist and engineer who helped develop the microwatt

bipolar junction transistor A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor that uses both electrons and electron holes as charge carriers. In contrast, a unipolar transistor, such as a field-effect transistor, uses only one kind of charge carrier. A bipolar ...

in 1951, which was a critical step in making transistors usable for every-day electronics. Sparks directed

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Ba ...

Early life and education

Sparks was born in

Pagosa Springs, Colorado The Town of Pagosa Springs (Ute language: Pagwöösa, Navajo language: Tó Sido Háálį́) is a home rule municipality that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Archuleta County, Colorado, ...

and earned his BA and MA degrees, both in chemistry, at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universitie ...

. He then did his PhD work in physical chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Career

Sparks went on to work at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

where

John Bardeen John Bardeen (; May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American physicist and engineer. He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the ...

Walter Brattain Walter Houser Brattain (; February 10, 1902 – October 13, 1987) was an American physicist at Bell Labs who, along with fellow scientists John Bardeen and William Shockley, invented the point-contact transistor in December 1947. They shared t ...

and

William Shockley William Bradford Shockley Jr. (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist and inventor. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. The three scientists were jointl ...

were developing the first transistor. Sparks stayed at Bell Labs and worked there to develop the microwatt

which helped make transistors practical enough for common use. Later, Sparks left Bell Labs to become the director of

References

External links

Obituary: ''NY Times''

Obituary: ''Times''
1916 births 2008 deaths People from Pagosa Springs, Colorado Rice University alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni United States Department of Energy National Laboratories personnel 20th-century American engineers Scientists at Bell Labs Sandia National Laboratories people {{US-scientist-stub

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

External links