Lawrence J. Giacoletto

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Lawrence Joseph Giacoletto (born November 14, 1916 in Clinton , Indiana , † October 4, 2004 in Okemos , Michigan ) was an American electrical engineer and inventor. Among other things, he became known for his work in the field of semiconductor circuit technology , in particular for the Giacoletto equivalent circuit diagram for transistors named after him .

Life

Giacoletto first studied at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute . After successfully completing a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering, he moved to the University of Iowa in 1938, where he obtained a Master of Science degree in physics a year later . His studies were then interrupted by a five-year service as an officer in World War II. In 1952 he received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan . After his discharge from military service in 1946, Giacoletto began working as a development engineer at RCA Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1956 he moved to the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, where he worked as a manager of the Electronics Department Scientific Labs. From 1961 he taught as a professor of electrical engineering at Michigan State University until his retirement in 1987. At the same time as this change, he founded the Cooperative Research Institute (CORES). Here he continued his research in the field of vehicle electronics and developed ideas for improving various products.

Services

His skills have been reflected in over 70 technical publications and more than 23 patents. He worked among others instrumental in the development of the RCA color television system, developed the eponymous equivalent circuit for transistors capacitance diode and undertook the first attempts to develop a transistor ignition system for cars.

Giacoletto was still publishing at the old age of 83. He was the author or co-author of the following books:

  • RCA Laboratories Transistor I Book . RCA Laboratories, 1956.
  • Differential Amplifiers . New York, Wiley-Interscience, 1970, ISBN 0-471-29724-0 .
  • The Electronics Designers Handbook . McGraw-Hill, 1977, ISBN 0-07-023149-4 .

Awards

Giacoletto has received awards such as Fellow of the IEEE and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . He was a member of the American Physical Society and Sigma Xi and a variety of bodies.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Giacoletto, Lawrence J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Giacoletto, Lawrence Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American electrical engineer and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Clinton , Indiana
DATE OF DEATH 4th October 2004
Place of death Okemos , Michigan