Otto Bernard Blackwell (August 21, 1884 – November 21, 1970) was an American electrical engineer known for his pioneer contributions to the art of telephone transmission. He received the

IEEE Edison Medal The IEEE Edison Medal is presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts." It is the oldest medal in this fi ...

in 1950. Mr. Blackwell held about two dozen patents in the telephone field. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1906, and joined the engineering department of

American Telephone and Telegraph AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...

. He worked in the Engineering Dept of ATT from 1906 to 1914, was a Transmission and Protection Engineer 1914-1919 a Transmission and Development Engineer 1919-1934. Edwin H. Colpitts and Otto B. Blackwell published an important paper on carrier multiplex telephony and telegraphy in the Transactions of the AIEE in 1921. They summarized work on bandpass filters and vacuum-tube electronics, which had enabled a four-channel commercial system to be placed in operation between Baltimore, MD, and Pittsburgh, PA, in 1918. He became vice president of

Bell Laboratories 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 ...

, and at retirement in 1949 he was an assistant vice president at

the parent company. Otto B. Blackwell son of Edwin A Blackwell and Abbie (Walker) Blackwell was born in

Bourne, Massachusetts Bourne ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne (CDP), ...

; married Elsie Eldredge July 2, 1917 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and had a son Edwin Alston Blackwell and a daughter, Mrs. Anna Louise Wood of

Plandome, New York Plandome is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Manhasset area, which is anchored by Manhasset. The population was 1,349 at ...

, and three grandchildren.

References

External links

Biography

IEEE Edison Medal recipients.

Scanning the Past: A History of Electrical Engineering from the Past at IEEE.

Oral History by Karl Honaman who worked with Otto Blackwell at A.T.& T. and mentions him.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Otto B. IEEE Edison Medal recipients 1884 births 1970 deaths People from Bourne, Massachusetts People from Sands Point, New York