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Peter L. Jensen

HOW PETER L. JENSEN TRANSFORMED THE WORLD OF AUDIO

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The young generation loves loud music. Especially Friday nights are all going to a club and dancing our hearts out. We have never realized that the speaker has become an integral part of our life. We never forget to carry earphones or headphones while traveling. And, we also cannot imagine a party without loud music. So, let’s take a moment and praise the inventor of the loudspeaker. Because without Peter L. Jensen our life would have been dull.

Peter L. Jensen

Peter L. Jensen was a famous Danish American engineer who invented loudspeakers in 1915. Previously, a scientist called Oliver Lodge invented a moving-coil loudspeaker in 1898. But, it was an experimental one. Peter was the first person to invent a practical moving-coil loudspeaker.

Early Life and Education

Born in 1886, Peter belonged to an island called Falster in Denmark. He went to a Danish high school and graduated in 1902. Peter attended Amherst College, Massachusetts and pursued liberal arts. He graduated in the year 1906.

Career

Peter’s career life began with a job in the laboratory of Valdemar Poulsen. This turned out to be a great opportunity for Peter as Valdemar was the inventor of magnetic recording. Peter got promoted as the assistant of Valdemar in 1905. In 1909, Peter fled to the U.S and assisted Valdemar to introduce the Poulsen Radio Arc System.

Peter was great at his job. After working for Valdemar, he started working as an engineer for the Federal Telegraph Company, California. The company also bought the Poulsen patent in November 1910.

First Business

After gaining experience in the professional world, Peter co-founded his first business. In 1911, Peter established Commercial Wireless and Development Co. with Edwin S. Pridham in Napa, California. Richard O’Conner provided financial support and Carl Albertus assisted in the department of engineering.

Magnavox

In 1917, Jensen and Edwin changed the name of the company to Magnavox. Jensen became the chief engineer of the company. Magnavox stands for “great voice”. The establishment of the company left the entire United Nations speechless.

It was for the first time in world history a person’s voice became audible across a huge area. Today, Magnavox is one of the famous companies in the U.S for its rich history. The main products of the company are Smart Televisions, Air Conditioners, Heaters, etc.

The Invention

With Edwin’s help, Peter invented the first-ever moving-coil loudspeakers in 1915. Peter used the electro-dynamic principle for designing the loudspeakers. The speakers were later termed as dynamic speakers. In 1916, Peter built the first complete electric reproducing phonograph and patented it.

In1915 Christmas Eve, Peter used the loudspeakers for the first time. A gathering of 75,000 people in San Francisco witnessed his magnificent invention. The entire crowd was able to hear every announcement and speech distinctively.

Under the name of Magnavox, it was used as a public address system. The product became famous overnight as no other companies in the world built something like this.

Other Inventions

In 1919, Peter designed a dynamic loudspeaker for the reception of radio broadcasting. Magnavox became the brand name leading the production. In 1917, Peter invented the world’s first anti-noise self-neutralizing microphone. Edwin played a big role.

The aviation industry used it for wireless communication between the aircraft and the receiver at ground level. During the first and the second world wars, the air force of the United Nations used it extensively.

Jensen Radio Manufacturing Company

Jensen stepped down from his position in Magnavox in 1925. After a couple of years, he founded Jensen Radio Manufacturing Company. Based in Chicago, the company gained huge popularity during the 1940s. When Fender Musical Instrument Corporation used Jensen speakers for their guitar amplifier, it earned a huge profit.

Fender, Ampeg and, Gibson became the topmost customers of Jensen Loudspeakers. The company also started producing Hi-Fi loudspeakers for home. In the late 1960s, Jensen Loudspeakers ceased production. Later, in 2008, SICA Altoparlanti started producing loudspeakers under the brand name of Jensen.

In the late 1990s, Jensen and SICA signed the legal agreement for designing and selling loudspeakers under their brand name.

Achievements

In 1955, Jensen became the honorary member of the Audio Engineering Society. He was also an Extraordinary member of the Danish Engineering Society. Peter was also knighted by the King of Denmark in the Order of the Dannebrog.

Peter passed away in 1961 at the age of 75.

General-Electric

Edison’s Biggest Invention And Story Of General Electric

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The life story of Thomas Alva Edison is truly inspiring. Thomas was the little deaf boy who struggled all his way to the top. He was the first inventor of the electric light bulb. Today, he is well-known not only as an inventor but as a great businessman. Thomas also contributed to the communication industry.

Since Thomas had a great business interest; he built many companies and research laboratories. And, one of his biggest companies that are leading the world even today is General Electric. On 15th April 1892, five founders namely Thomas Edison, Elihu Thomson, Edwin Houston, Charles Coffin, and J. P. Morgan. Irving Langmuir and Ivar Giaever worked for the company in the 1900s.

Thomas Alva Edison
Image Source: Google Images

Early History of General Electric

Thomas founded many electricity-related companies which include Edison Lamp Company, Edison Machine Works, Edison Electric Light Company, etc. J. P. Morgan and Vanderbilt family financially supported Edison Electric Light Company.

In 1889, Edison Electric Company merged with Drexel, Morgan & Co. (co-founded by J. P. Morgan) to form Edison General Electric Company. In the same year, the company merged with Thomson-Houston Electric Company and acquired Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company. Then the company’s headquarters was Schenectady plant.

Beginning of a New Century

In 1911, General Electric expanded its lightning business. It acquired the National Electric Lamp Association and the headquarters of the lightning division were based on East Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1919, Owen established Radio Corporation of America through General Electric. The company also acquired Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America in the same year. Founding RCA helped General Electric to create a firm base on the grounds of communication and broadcasting.

In 1926, the establishment of the National Broadcasting Company took place due to a partnership with RCA. Later, General Electric was accused of antitrust violations and the company decided to spin out of the joint venture. In the next year, General Electric entered into television broadcast. Ernst Alexanderson made most of the contributions.

Expansion

The company also excelled in computing. In 1960, General Electric ranked eighth in the list of major computer companies. After a couple of years, the company started building its operating system (GCOS). Today, many companies use this OS.

Under the leadership of Sanford Alexander Moss, General Electric stepped into the aviation industry. In late 1900, the company started building turbosuperchargers. During World War I, the company introduced these and the sale rose rapidly. Production of round 3, 00,000 turbo superchargers took place for fighter and bomber engines.

The efficiency and powerful technology of General Electric caught the sight of the U.S. Army. Thus, the company received the order of building the nation’s first jet engine for U. S. Army Air Corps. After World War II, General Electric ranked ninth in U. S. for producing wartime machines.

General Electric’s success outsourced all its competitors including Rolls-Royce. Eventually, in the 1980s the company involved itself in the production of nuclear weapons. A part of the nation didn’t take it n a good way and started boycotting their products.

The new century indicated a part of new business for the company. It invested in wind power. In 2002, the company acquired Enron Wind and by the end of 2003 the company’s annual sales summed up to $1.2 billion. In 2009, General Electric acquired ScanWind.

Acquisitions since the 1980s

The dispute with RCA came to an end when it finally reacquired it for $6.28 billion in 1985. In 1986, the company acquired Kidder, Peabody & Co.

Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a part of General Electric in 2002. After a couple of years, General Electric acquired the majority of Universal Pictures from Vivendi. The same year witnessed General Electric spinning off its life insurance division and established it as an independent company.

In 1997, General Electric established Genpact and sold 60% of its stake to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners. The company acquired Smiths Aerospace for $4.8 billion in May 2007 which was followed by acquiring Vecto Gray for $1.9 million. In 2008, the Oil & Gas part of General Electric acquired Hydril Pressure & Control for $1.1 billion.

In March 2011, the company acquired Lineage Power Holdings and in April 2011 it acquired John Wood Plc’s Well Support Division for $2.8 billion. In June 2012, the company announced about investing $3 billion for expanding business in Karnataka, India.

After 2011, the market has fallen a bit for General Electric. The acquisition of a few subsidiaries of the company took place by huge multinational conglomerates.

Dolby Laboratories

Ray Dolby: A Story Of Dolby Laboratories Founder Who Changed The Audio Industry

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Today, we experience high definition audio. Also, several ways of sound mixings are available to satisfy our ears. Expectations continue to rise, but we should be grateful to the legend, who made this happen. Ray Dolby, a man of innovation and a pioneer, who is a founder of Dolby Laboratories. His remarkable work in noise reduction is responsible for the birth of the entire audio industry, delivering an unexpected modification in sound.

Presently, Dolby Laboratories enable the best audio quality. And more immersive ways to enjoy high definition sound. Admirably, it is the resultant of the efforts and dedication of an inspiring and passionate engineer. Ray Dolby a person who changes the future of the audio industry.

The Early Life Of Ray Dolby

Ray Dolby was born on 18 January 1933, in Portland, Oregon to Earl Milton Dolby and Esther Eufemia. Due to his family relocation, he spent very less time of childhood in there. As a matter of fact, being raised in the world war II time made him tough and stubborn. Eventually, he prepared him for his incoming journey.

Ray Dolby
Image Source: Google Images

Education

Ray Dolby went to Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California. While studying, he worked at Ampex in Redwood city in 1949. In the same year, he worked first ever on audiotape recording systems. After that, he attended San Jose State College and Stanford University. In fact, during this period he served in Army services for two years. Finally, he completed his graduation in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Furthermore, he applied for a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Cambridge. That time, Ray was the research fellow at Pembroke College.

Earlier Achievements

During education, Ray worked on early prototypes of Videotape recorder for Charlie Ginsburg and Alexander Poniatoff. In addition, he played an important role in unveiling the prototype, Quadruplex Videotape recorder of Ampex. That same recorder was in Ampex’s production during 1956. No surprise, he was the non-degree holder consultant for Ampex at that time. Surely, it was the beginning of the next move.

Career

Ray Dolby was one of those engineers, who serve the nation with their talent. Previously, he served to the UN (United Nations) in India as a technical advisor. But his inner innovator called him to perform a historical change in the audio industry. After that, in 1965 he returned to England. Until he played an important role in the United Nation as a technical advisor.

Establishment of Dolby Laboratories

Always, Ray was more concerned about harmonics which were responsible to degrade the recorded sound quality in Analog tape. With this vision, he founded the Dolby Laboratories in London on 18 May 1965. At that time, he had a staff of only four people.

It was the lucky year, he invented the Dolby Noise reduction system in 1965. In fact, the system successfully reduced the audible hiss noise level of tape. He named patent for this notable work in 1969.

Performance of Dolby Laboratories

Dolby 301 unit was the first product that was traded out for only professional recording studios. Furthermore, the company focused to improve film sound. And “A Clockwise orange” was the first-ever film using Dolby sound in 1971. Dolby stereo, a noise reduction system with many audio channels were released in 1975. Dolby lab. released many versions of Dolby stereo with enhanced noise reduction.

Personal Life

He was happily married to Dagmar. They have two sons Tom and David. In life, with his wife, he supported many charities, clauses, and social organizations. This couple funded the Medicine Building at the University of California. Also, they helped to build San Francisco’s Stem Cell Center, Brain Health Center at California and Pacific Medical Center.

Later success

Dolby Laboratories continuously delivering the best to the audio sector. However, Ray’s innovative and realistic approach towards technology formed the strong foundation of the company. In 2015, he received a star on Hollywood walk of fame.

JBL logo

James Bullough Lansing – Story of Innovative Radio Engineer to JBL’s founder

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Today, JBL is a very famous brand for speakers and headphones. It has a huge electronic audio market. Whether it is simple consumer speakers, headphones or studio speakers; JBL is one of the demanding brands. It is founded by an audio engineer and a loudspeaker designer, James Bullough Lansing. He is one of the innovative engineers of America, who did remarkable work in the technical field.

In the middle of the 20th century, the whole world was mad over innovations. Also, many scientists were busy discovering new technologies. In such a challenging period, this audio engineer formed the base of the leading electronics company of the present era. 

Today, the world knows him as a pioneer and innovator. He inspires many entrepreneurs to be passionate about work, regardless of difficult situations.

Early life

James Bullough Lansing was born on 14 January 1902, in Greenridge, Illinois. He was the ninth of fourteenth kids of the Martini family. His father, Henry Martini was a coal mining engineer. Due to his father’s changing worksites, the family has to change their location simultaneously. Therefore, James spent childhood days in many different places.

JBL Founder
Image Source – Google

At his young age, James lives with the Bullough family for a short duration. Thereafter, he changed the name from James martini to James Bullough Lansing in 1927.

Education

James Lansing brought up in Springfield, Illinois at his teenage. Where he completed his primary schooling at Lawrence school. He was a talented student at Springfield High School.

Also, he attained some training courses at a small business college in Springfield. He was famous amongst his friends, for playing pranks with his innovative ideas. Once, he built a Layden jar to trick his friends. 

He was an innovative child. James’ schoolmates get flatten over his powerful enough radio transmitter’s design.

Career

In early days of career, he worked as an automotive mechanic. While working, he attended an automotive school at one of the dealers’ Detroit courtesy. Afterward, he worked as an engineer at the radio station, Salt Lake City. 

James Lansing’s career took a new turn when he joined Baldwin Radio company. He got the opportunity to meet Ken Decker, who turned out as a business partner in upcoming years. 

Personal Life

At the age of 21, he left home after his mother’s death. Later, he settled in Salt Lake City for his job. It was the period, where he met a beautiful lady Glenna Peterson, who became his wife in the future.

New Business 

On 9 March 1927, James Lancing and decker founded Lansing Manufacturing company. It was the loudspeaker manufacturing unit. 

After the death of Decker, the company’s growth was declined enormously. At that time, Altec Service Corporation bought the company in 1941. Afterward, Lansing manufacturing company renamed Altec Lansing. In the end, James left the company after his 5-year contract as VP of the engineering section had terminated.

Establishment of JBL

In the year 1946, he established Lancing Sound, Incorporated. Due to some trademark issues with Altec lancing, the company renamed “James B. Lancing sound, Inc.” Furthermore, the company name shortened as JBL for product branding. In the future, JBL became the official name.

D101, a 15inch loudspeaker was the first product of the company. After that, the company launched D130, 15inch transducer in the market. In fact, the model’s several versions remain in the production for over 55 years.

Later Life

No doubt, James was a hardworking innovative engineer. But, the lack of business skills results in faltering business conditions. As a result, JBL started losing the market and the investors’ interest. For a few years, Marquardt corporation offered modest investment to the JBL. But after the acquisition of Marquardt by General Tire company, they broke ties with JBL.

The degrading financial conditions became out of the reach for the compassionate innovator. Also, several personal problems worsen the situation. Unfortunately, James Bullough died on 24 September 1949.

Bottom Line

James, with his innovative mind, constructed a strong base for JBL. In the present electronics market, JBL is trustworthy for its advanced Loudspeakers, headphones, and amplifiers.

JBL’s car audio system used in Ford’s top vehicle. Currently, it is one of the most loved headphone brands in all ranges of customers.

SanDisk

Sanjay Mehrotra: Never-Ending Journey For A Better Digital World of SanDisk Founder

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There are many persons who believe in innovations. Although, very few of them are responsible to make that happen. But the persons, who dare to transfer those inventions from lab to daily use, make the world a better place. So, they set their name in the list of influencing entrepreneurs. Sanjay Mehrotra is one of them, who not only believes in innovation but also devoted himself to deliver a better one. He is the co-founder and former CEO of SanDisk that replaces hard disk drives with flash memory in the 19th century.

Image Source – Google

At present, he is the CEO of Micron Technology, which is one of the leading memory storage devices manufacturers. It has been never easy to climb the ladder of success. Yet, it is inspiring to know the untold journey of Sanjay Mehrotra.

Early life

He was born on 27th June 1958 in Kanpur, India. Sanjay spent his childhood days in the same city. Thereafter, the Mehrotra family shifted to Delhi due to his father’s work. He went to Delhi school for primary education. Also, at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya he completed secondary schooling.

UG course at the University of California

When the students were dreaming of post-graduation in foreign. At that time, Sanjay’s father inspired him for UG in a foreign country. BITS Pilani was well known for collaboration with international Universities. So, he took admission for UG program, in the hope of future chance to go abroad. He completed two years of Electrical engineering in Bits Pilani, and then the day came.

He grabbed the opportunity to study the remaining UG course at the University of California, Berkeley. Reaching there was not a cakewalk. At first, his visa got denied three times. But his father’s support and his ambitions do not let him stop. They had to request multiple times and countless meetings to the Indian US embassy. Finally, he got the passport and flight landed at the destination.

Earlier achievements

He applied for a master’s degree, at the same University as a UG program. During his master’s program, he worked on Integrated circuits. But his interest was more towards designing. Hence, he could not stop himself from discovering non-volatile memory design.

Sanjay named more than 70 patents. Also, he presented research papers on the Flash memory system and non-volatile memory design.

He joined Intel Corporation as a Non-Volatile design engineer in 1980. It was the opportunity to explore his area of interest in non-volatile memory design more.

What happens when one Indian, one Chinese, and one person from Israel meet? No idea. Well, when these three persons met, they founded SanDisk; that too in one different country.

Boom of SanDisk

In 1988, Sanjay Mehrotra, Eli Harari, and Jack Yuan started a small company in Silicon Valley. Initially, they wanted to replace hard disk drives with their flash solid-state drives (SSD). To achieve this, they designed the first flash-based SSD mounted in a 2.5inch hard drive for IBM. Though it was of only 20MB capacity, it was a great move to install the technology which was at the experimental state at that time.

The first product of SanDisk traded out for $1000. After that, they changed their products according to market needs. SanDisk boomed the digital industry with its first mega-market sale of open standard digital films.

The Journey Continues

In the year 2011, Sanjay Mehrotra acquired the position as CEO. Under his policies, the company gained most of the electronics market. In fact, in 2012 SanDisk was the third-highest among other consumer electronics companies.

In recent years, SanDisk working on SSD for cloud computing. Also, they produce more than 2 million USB flash drivers per day. In 2017, Sanjay Mehrotra assigned as the new Chief executive officer of Micron Inc. Also, he is the onboard member of SanDisk.

Zilingo

Zilingo – Indian Entrepreneurs Create New Style Statement

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We all love talking about fashion. Many of us have the urge to recreate their wardrobe every season. From a 5-years old little girl to a 60-years old man, we all want to look classic. A perfect fashion icon speaks through the language of style.

Brands can never define fashion. The idea behind fashion is creative and one can get inspiration from anywhere. It is a form of art that seeks ideas from a high-class designer dress to some really cool street style. Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor proved that in front of the entire world.

Who are they?

Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor are the founders of Zilingo, an online commerce platform for fashion. Though they are from different career background they hit it off pretty well.

Zilingo-Founders
Image Source – Google Images

Ankiti Bose

Before founding Zilingo, Ankiti Bose worked as an investment analyst Sequoia Capital. She worked at the Bangalore office. Bose studied Economics and Mathematics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

She is a fashion enthusiast. Her trip to Bangkok and witnessing their magnificent street fashion is what inspired her to create something of her own. She has also worked for McKinsey & Company.

Dhruv Kapoor

It is true that Engineers can be anywhere. One might get a B. Tech degree but for most of them, interest lies somewhere else. Dhruv Kapoor is an engineer who graduated from IIT, Guwahati. He studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

After graduating in 2012, Dhruv Kapoor joined Yahoo as a Software Engineer. After working there for a year, he joined Kiwi. Eventually, he met Bose, decided to quit the job and start a business.

The Back Story

None of them had the perfect plan to start a business. It happened all of a sudden. They trusted their guts and took the risk.

The story begins when Bose went on a Bangkok trip with her friends. It was back in 2014. She went shopping in a market called Chatuchak. According to her, it was the largest weekend market worldwide.

She witnessed more than 10,000 independent retailers with really inspiring designs. Unfortunately, none of them knew how to take their business online. This is when Bose thought of creating a platform where these powerful talents can be showcased and earned as well.

With the idea in her mind, she knew it would be better if she had a tech guy in her team. Because irrespective of the idea technology has a bigger role to play. After a few days, she met Kapoor at a party in her own flat. She shared her idea and Kapoor found it really interesting. They decided to take the next step.

The Beginning

They started with quitting their jobs. There wasn’t any second thought about their plan. Initially, they spend $30,000 each from their savings. Sequoia India backed Zilingo since Bose was a former employee. The company provided Zilingo the seed funding.

In 2015, Bose and Kapoor established Zilingo in Singapore.

What is Zilingo?

The company is a dream place for any potential designer who lacks a source. Zilingo is a fashion company that connects wholesalers, retailers and help them reach out to customers. It provides technical and financial support.

Within four years, the company has expanded to Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, India, and the U.S. Every company or the independent retailer who wishes to do sell their products go through strict scrutiny. Zilingo charges a commission of 10%-30% for all of them.

The Success

From the very beginning, Zilingo raised a good amount of funding. It raised around $8 million in Series A funding followed by $18 million in Series B funding. Zilingo’s Series C funding round took place in 2018 and it raised $54 million. The amount almost quadrupled in the Series D funding round.

Zilingo has become one of the highest capitalized start-ups in South East Asia. The company’s valuation became $970 million in February 2019.

Zilingo, today, has more than 600 employees working over eight nations. The company’s valuation is on the course to become $1 billion. Bose is the first Indian woman who co-founded a start-up of such valuation. She has become a role model for all young women entrepreneurs out there.

The company has created a sign of dignity for both its business strategy and technology. What can be a better combination than an economist and a software engineer? Zilingo’s team is full of creative, inspiring and passionate people.