Martin Cooper
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Martin Cooper (born December 26, 1928[citation needed] in Chicago) is considered the father of the mobile phone (as distinct from the car phone). [1] Cooper is the CEO and founder of ArrayComm, a company that works on researching smart antenna technology and improving wireless networks, and was the corporate director of Research and Development for Motorola. He received his degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1950 and received his master's degree from the same institution in 1957.
[edit] The world's first mobile call
Cooper is the inventor named on US patent 3906166 "Radio telephone system" filed on October 17, 1973. He is considered the inventor of the first portable handset and the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone on April 3, 1973, to the bewilderment of passers-by in a New York City street. That first call, placed to his rival Joel Engel, Bell Labs' head of research, caused a fundamental technology and communications market shift toward the person and away from the place. It was the incarnation of his vision for personal wireless communications, distinct from cellular car phones. Cooper later revealed that watching Captain Kirk talking in his communicator on the television show Star Trek inspired him to research the mobile phone. [2]
[edit] Cooper's Law
Cooper's Law is the term used for his observation that the number of radio frequency conversations which can be concurrently conducted in a given area has doubled every 30 months since Marconi's spark gap transmitter. [3]
In 2003, Cooper received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for his technological innovations in the communication field. Cooper is also a member of Mensa.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ BBC Interview with Cooper
- ^ Laytner, Lance. Edit International Star Trek Tech (2007)
- ^ Cooper's Law
- ^ "They're Accomplished, They're Famous, and They're MENSANS" (July 2004). Mensa Bulletin (476): p. 25. American Mensa. ISSN 0025-9543.
