Winston Edward Kock (1909 – November 25, 1982) was an American

electrical engineer 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 ...

and musician, who was the first Director of NASA

Electronics Research Center The Electronics Research Center (ERC) was a NASA research facility located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, across the street from MIT at Kendall Square. The ERC opened in September 1964 as the successor to the North Eastern Operations Office which ...

(NASA ERC) in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, from September 1, 1964 to October 1, 1966. The Center was created for multidisciplinary

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...

, its proximity to certain colleges, its proximity to a local

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

research facility, and was perceived as part of the nation's

cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

effort. Johnson Space Center News. This article contains public domain information from a NASA document available online. NASA History Program Office. Kock was also a novelist under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Wayne Kirk. Kock also wrote books about topics in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

. These included

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

holography Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, i ...

, and

lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

. List of science books authored by KocK at the Library of Congress * Kock's seminal research in

artificial dielectrics Artificial dielectrics are fabricated composite materials, often consisting of arrays of conductive shapes or particles in a nonconductive support matrix, designed to have specific electromagnetic properties similar to dielectrics. As long as the l ...

, carried out at

AT&T 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 ...

in the 1940s, is a historical connection to

metamaterials A metamaterial (from the Ancient Greek, Greek word Meta, μετά ''meta'', meaning "beyond" or "after", and the Latin word ''materia'', meaning "matter" or "material") is any material engineered to have a property that is not found in naturally ...

Education

At age four Kock started learning piano, and by high school he could play full recitals. In college he began composing music. He then took electrical engineering courses at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

and continued studying piano and organ at the Cincinnati College of Music. In the 1930s, as partial fulfillment of his bachelor's degree, he built an electronic organ. He used the more economical neon glow tubes for his electronic organ rather than radio vacuum tubes as sources for tones. In 1932 he received his BSc 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 ...

. For his master's degree thesis Kock grappled with the problem of pitch stabilization for 70 neon tubes in an electronic organ. In 1933 he received his Master of Science degree. In 1934, he received his Ph.D. in experimental and theoretical physics from the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. His examiners were Professors

Max von Laue Max Theodor Felix von Laue (; 9 October 1879 – 24 April 1960) was a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. In addition to his scientific endeavors with cont ...

and

Arthur Wehnelt Arthur Rudolph Berthold Wehnelt (April 4, 1871 – February 15, 1944) was a German physicist, noted for important contributions in the fields of X-ray physics, gas discharges and electron emission. Life Wehnelt's parents returned to Germany fr ...

. As part of the thesis, Kock, together with another candidate, developed an improved design for an electronic organ based on the

formant In speech science and phonetics, a formant is the broad spectral maximum that results from an acoustic resonance of the human vocal tract. In acoustics, a formant is usually defined as a broad peak, or local maximum, in the spectrum. For harmoni ...

principle. Free PDF download.

Career

Kock was a researcher for Bell Laboratories. Part of his work there involved artificial dielectrics. He proposed metallic and wire lenses for antennas. Some of these are the metallic delay lens, parallel-wire lens, and the wire mesh lens. In addition, he conducted analytical studies regarding the response of customized metallic particles to a quasistatic,

electromagnetic radiation In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic field, electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, inf ...

field. Kock noted behaviors and structure in these artificial materials. In one journal, entitled ''

Proceedings of the IRE The ''Proceedings of the IEEE'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The journal focuses on electrical engineering and computer science. According to the ''Journa ...

'' (see ref below), Kock describes a new type of antenna applying the optical properties of Radio waves. It is in fact a metallic lens, which focuses electromagnetic waves "...''from short waves up to wavelengths of perhaps five meters or more''." * * Before becoming Director of NASA

he was vice-president research of the

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...

in Detroit. After leaving the Director's position, he returned to Bendix as vice-president and chief scientist. He continued at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

as a member of the Administration Committee. Following his retirement from Electronics Research Center, he also acted as the Director of Basic and Applied Sciences at his alma mater, University of Cincinnati, where he was also a visiting professor of engineering. Kock was fellow member of

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 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 ...

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

and

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary orga ...

. He died on November 25, 1982 in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

and was survived by his wife and three children.

Research

He continued work in electronic music engineering from the age of electronic tubes all the way to the invention of the

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...

. He also researched

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...

s, semiconductors,

picture phone Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Ency ...

and

. His work in artificial dielectrics preceded metamaterials by approximately 50 years.

Patents

Kock received over 200 patents in the

and acoustic

fields. *In 1935 Kock applied for a patent describing formant circuits in an electronic organ. *Electrical Organ W. E. KOCK et al., Patent number: 2233948; Filing date: Mar 17, 1938; Issue date: Mar 4, 1941 *Oscillation Generator: Patent number: 2400309; Filing date: Oct 31, 1941; Issue date: May 14, 1946 *Electrical musical instrument: Patent number: 2328282; Filing date: Apr 23, 1941; Issue date: Aug 31, 1943 *Metallic structure for delaying unpolarized waves: Patent number: 2577619; Filing date: May 16, 1947; Issue date: Dec 4, 1951. *Two-way television over telephone Lines. Patent number: 2895005; Filing date: Sep 30, 1954; Issue date: Jul 14, 1959. Two-way Television over Telephone Lines

Books

Kock wrote several books including ''Sound Waves and Light Waves'' (1965), ''Lasers and Holography'' (1981), ''Seeing Sound'' (1972), ''Radar, Sonar and Holography'' (1974), and ''The Creative Engineer: the art of inventing'' (1978). He also authored ''Applications of Holography'' (Proceedings of United States-Japan Seminar on Information Processing by Holography, held in Washington, D.C., October 13–18, 1969).books by Winston E. Kock
Goodreads. accessdate 2011-03-16Author: Winston E. Kock
Google Books. Accessdate: 2011-03-16

Published research

At the Fortieth Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (November 9, 10, and 11, 1950) Kock, along with a colleague, contributed research results pertaining to "''a photographic method using mechanical scanning for displaying the space patterns of sound and microwaves...''" : Below is a list of some of Kock's published research: * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kock, Winston E Antennas (radio) Metamaterials scientists American electrical engineers Bendix Corporation people Scientists at Bell Labs 1909 births 1982 deaths 20th-century American engineers Microwave engineers Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Center Directors of NASA American telecommunications engineers University of Cincinnati alumni 20th-century American inventors American acoustical engineers