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George Samuel Hurst- One Of The First Scientists To Come Up With Touchscreen Technology

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Though scientists conducted thorough experiments and research regarding touchscreen technology, the implementations took a very long time. Theoretically, the concept of touchscreen dates back to the 1940s but the application in the real world wasn’t possible until 1980. For a long time, the ability of touchscreen didn’t cross the boundaries of the laboratory, but today the scenario is different. We can’t imagine surviving one day without using our smartphone or a tablet. But, now we have said no to the annoying “qwerty” keypads. It is amusing how bewildered we use to be seeing the high-tech touchscreen technology in science fiction. And, today we are part of the society where most of us using the technology like a jigsaw puzzle. We should be grateful to this physicist for bringing our life to a whole other technological dimension.

The early life of George: Touchscreen Founder

Born on 13th October 1927, George belonged to a very rural area of Ponza, Bell County, Kentucky. Their family had a farm where he grew up with other siblings. From a very young age, he had a very keen interest in physics and Thomas Edison in particular. But, who knew this zeal to learn new things would make this farm boy so famous one day.

Education

George attended Bell County High School and went to Berea College to acquire his bachelor’s degree. He got admitted into college at the age of fifteen and received his degree in 1947. He graduated with a degree in physics and a minor in mathematics. For pursuing higher studies, he went to the University of Kentucky and completed his master’s in physics.

While pursuing his higher education, he made a friend called Rufus Ritchie with whom he worked on various physics projects. After graduation, both of them decided to go to ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory). After George’s significant contribution to the field of Physics, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. The name of his paper was “Attachment of Low-Energy Electrons in Mixtures Containing Oxygen”.

Area of Research

In the world of science, capacitive touchscreens were invented first followed by resistive touchscreens. E. A. Johnson is known for inventing the capacitive touchscreens in the early 1960s. He published an article, “Touch display- A novel input/output device for computers”. The features and technology of such touchscreens are incorporated in some of today’s smartphones.

But, eventually, the resistive touchscreens suppressed the concept of capacitive touchscreens. And, the inventor of this type of touchscreens is none other than George Samuel Hurst. The story of his invention is very interesting and took place at Berea College.

George and some other Ph.D. scholars were working on a project of atomic physics using an overworked Van de Graff accelerator. Rigorous analysis slowed down there pace. So, George thought of using electrically conductive paper to read a few two-dimensional coordinates. This saved time and gave a spark to the idea of touchscreens for computers.

His Big Invention

When George went to the University of Kentucky, he wanted to file a patent so that his work stays secure. But, the origin of this theory and his later laboratory works weren’t that convincing. So, the chapter was slightly closed then, but he had plans in his mind. After he went to ORNL, George along with his nine other friends researched his basement.

Since what happened in the laboratory of Berea College was completely sudden and accidental they wanted to take it further. The team called this technology “Elographics” and they started working on developing a proper interacting touchscreen for computers. He finally came up with what we call today’s resistive touchscreen technology. It is called so because the computer or smartphones respond because of the pressure we exert and no electrical conductivity. Moreover, resistive touchscreen and more cost-effective and hence widely used by mobile phone companies today.

Awards and Recognitions

George Samuel Hurst is the recipient of Union Carbide (Corporate fellow) and American Physical Society (fellow). He is also a part of the University of Kentucky (Alumni Association Hall of Distinguished Alumni), received an honorary degree from Berea College (D.Sc.), etc. He also bagged the Distinguished Alumni Award of 2005 from the University of Tennessee.

He is also well-known for founding Scientists and Engineers for Appalachia (SEA) and Institute of Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy. He was a professional health physicist.

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
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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.