Designer of the First Hydrogen Bomb Dies at 97

Richard L. Garwin

Designer of the first hydrogen bomb

Life Fellow, 97; Died May 13

Garwin played an essential role in the development of the first hydrogen bomb in the world in the early 1950s.

For 41 years, he worked as IBM researcher in Yorktown Heights, NY during this period, he was also a scientific advisor to several American presidents.

After obtaining a baccalaureate in physics in 1947 of the Western University case in Cleveland, Garwin joined the doctoral program in physics of the University of Chicago. His thesis advisor was Enrico Fermi, the physicist who developed the first nuclear reactor. Garwin obtained a doctorate. In 1949, joining the hydrogen project at LOS Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, thanks to Fermi’s recommendation.

In 1951, Garwin designed the hydrogen bomb, applying theoretical work by physicists Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam. Its design led to the success in 1952 of a thermonuclear device, named Ivy Mike. The test took place at Atoll Enewetak in the Pacific Ocean. His contributions were only made public in 2001 due to the classified nature of his work, according to a Spectrum ieee Article on his career.

Garwin left LOS Alamos Lab and joined Watson Research Center of IBM in 1952. There, he worked on projects focused on early IT developments, communications and medical imaging.

His contributions have led to progress in MRI, high -speed laser printing and touch screen monitors.

Garwin also played a decisive role in the development of the rapid Fourier transform, a computer algorithm which was 100 times faster than the computer code existing at the time. FFT is in almost all electronic devices and has recently been commemorated with an important step from the IEEE.

It has also developed technology to detect gravitational waves – disturbances in the space tissue caused by collisions of black holes, stars explosions and similar phenomena.

In addition to being a researcher, Garwin advised American presidents on defense and nuclear policy for more than 50 years, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bill Clinton.

Garwin retired from IBM in 1993 but remained active in the public service. He chaired the Advisory Council for the Army Control and Non-Proliferation of the United States Department of State until 2001 and sat on the commissions involved in arms control problems and the threat of missiles.

He obtained 47 American patents and wrote nearly 500 scientific articles. He co-ordered several books, including Global nuclear weapons And Megawatts and megatons. In 2017, scientific writer Joel N. Shurkin published True Genius: The life and work of Richard Garwina biography.

Garwin has received prizes for his contributions to science and national policy, including a national 2002 science medal, presented by President George W. Bush, and a presidential 2016 Liberty Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama.

Garwin was an IBM emeritus comrade as well as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society.

Donald Twieg

Medical imaging researcher

Lifetime member, 80 years old; Died April 28

Twieg was a medical technology researcher who contributed to the early development of MRI machines. In 1983, he published a pivotal article introducing the formulation of K-Trajectory, a mathematical approach to follow the path that a MRI system follows while it collects data to rebuild an image. Technology researchers quickly adopted its method and used it to improve the imaging speed of MRI machines, resolution and signal / noise ratio.

After obtaining a baccalaureate in physics in 1971 from Rice University in Houston, Twieg had a brief passage as an associate engineer at Boeing in Huntsville, in Alberta. He decided to continue his studies and, in 1977, he obtained a doctorate. In biomedical engineering of the Southern Methodist University, in Dallas.

That year, he joined the University of Texas in Dallas as an associate professor of radiology. He contributed to cardiovascular nuclear medicine, including diagnostic tests to measure heart function.

In the early 1980s, Twieg changed its research goal in MRI technology. He left university and joined the Philips Research Laboratory in Aix-Un, Germany, as a personnel scientist. After a year, he became a member of the Medical Imaging Research Group of the San Francisco State University.

In 1990, he began his 22 -year -old mandate as a teacher of biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He worked on high -field MRI systems and made contributions to advanced brain spectroscopic imaging.

He retired in 2012 and was appointed professor emeritus.

Joseph “Joe” Watson

Electric engineer

Senior member of life, 94; Died April 24

Watson has spent most of his career as a professor of electric engineering at Swansea University in Wales. He collaborated with experts in aeronautics, chemists, engineers and surgeons on the development of gas leaks detection technology and using electrical stimulation to cure bone fractures.

He obtained a baccalaureate in electrical engineering in 1954 from the University of Nottingham, in England. He accepted a King George VI commemorative scholarship at MIT, where he studied nuclear engineering. After obtaining a master’s degree in EE in 1955, he returned to the University of Nottingham as a doctoral student. His work focused on the development of sensors and instrumentation for nuclear reactors. After obtaining a doctorate. In EE in 1958, he was hired as a process control electronics at Hilger and Watts, an optorelectronic company in London.

Watson left in 1963 to join Swansea University as a teacher of electrical engineering. During the next decade, he was also a guest professor at the Davis and Santa Barbara campuses of the University of California. In UC Davis, he worked with Verne Brown, co -founder of the Enmet gas detection company of Ann Arbor, Mich. Watson helped design the company’s first gas detector – a portable device equipped with semiconductor sensors that could locate fuel vapors in boats.

In 1993, Watson helped found the gas analysis and detection group, a research association in Huntingdon, England. He was president for more than 20 years before being elected president. He retired in 2015.

Anthony C. Davies

2003-2004 Director of Region 8 of the IEEE

Life Fellow, 89; Died March 22

Active volunteer of the IEEE, Davies was director of the region 8 2003-2004 (Europe, Middle East and Africa). He was professor emeritus at King’s College in London, and was director of his electronic and electric engineering department.

He began his career in 1961 as an engineer at General Electric Co. in Coventry, in England, where he worked on the design of filters and the modulation of the impetus code. Two years later, he joined the Northampton College of Advanced Technology (which is now part of City St. George’s, University of London) as a speaker. In 1982, he was appointed President of the Information Engineering Department of the College and was head of his microprocessor laboratory until 1987. He worked in the plane, ammunition and the manufacturer of defense systems for a year.

In 1990, he joined King’s College, where he taught courses on digital signal processing and software design. He retired in 1999 but returned to work in 2002 as a guest teacher at the University of Kingston, near London. There, he was the main investigator of a project funded by the government to develop communication methods for asynchronous systems in real time.

In addition to its Directorate of Region 8 of the IEEE, Davies was vice-president of the IEEE circuits and systems society and president of the IEEE UK and Ireland section.

He was a member of the British Computer Society and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

After two years of service in the British army, Davies obtained a baccalaureate with distinction in 1961 in electrical engineering from the University of Southampton, England. He then obtained a master’s degree in EE in 1967 from the University of London and a doctorate. In EE in 1970 of the Northampton College of Advanced Technology.