Charles Concordia (20 June 1908 – 25 December 2003) was a noted American

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

specializing in

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

power engineering Power engineering, also called power systems engineering, is a subfield of electrical engineering that deals with the generation, transmission, distribution, and utilization of electric power, and the electrical apparatus connected to such sy ...

and the early history of computer hardware.

Biography

Concordia was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

. In 1926 he went directly from high school to

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

as a test engineer. In 1934 he graduated from its Advanced Engineering Program and worked at General Electric until 1973. His early engineering work concerned

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and detecting cracks in railway rails by

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

measurements. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he worked on generators and turbines for naval

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

propulsion, researched aircraft

supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement (engine), displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically ...

s, and helped develop ships' electrical drives. In the 1940s he chaired the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) subcommittee on large-scale computing devices and continued consulting after the war. He married Frances Butler in 1948. In 1971 he earned a D.Sc. from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

and later received an honorary D.Sc. from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. Concordia was a Fellow of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...

, and AAAS, a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

and NSPE, a founder and National Treasurer of the

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...

, and first chairman of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers' Computer Committee, forerunner of the

IEEE Computer Society IEEE Computer Society (commonly known as the Computer Society or CS) is a technical society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated to computing, namely the major areas of hardware, software, standards and people ...

. For his work he received the Lamme Medal, the Centennial Medal, and the Power-Life Award from the IEEE and AIEE, as well as the Philip Sporn Award from CIGRE and both the Coffin Award and the Steinmetz Award from General Electric. He was awarded the 1999

IEEE Medal of Honor The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, and is presented to an individual or team of up to three who have made exceptional contri ...

"For outstanding contributions in the area of Power Systems Dynamics which resulted in substantial improvements in planning, operation, and security of extended power systems".

Selected works

* "Steady State Stability of Synchronous Machines as Affected by Voltage-Regulator Characteristics," '' Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers'', 1944. * ''Synchronous Machines: Theory and Performance'', Wiley, 1951.

References

IEEE History Center biography

IEEE Interview by Frederick Nebeker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concordia, Charles 1908 births 2003 deaths American electrical engineers Union College (New York) alumni General Electric people Fellows of the IEEE Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Association for Computing Machinery IEEE Medal of Honor recipients People from Schenectady, New York Fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers IEEE Centennial Medal laureates IEEE Lamme Medal recipients Engineers from New York (state) 20th-century American engineers