Elmer William Engstrom (August 25, 1901 – October 30, 1984) was an 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 ...

and corporate executive prominent for his role in the development of

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, ...

Biography

Youth and early career

Engstrom was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in 1901 as son of Emil Engstrom, a power plant engineer, and Anna (Nelson) Engstrom. After attending the Mechanical Arte High School in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, he obtained his BSc in electrical engineering at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1923. After graduation, in 1923, Engstrom worked at the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

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 ...

, on

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

technology and sound devices for

motion picture A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

s. When this activity was spun off to the

Radio Corporation of America RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

(RCA) in 1930, he took on further responsibilities for these technologies plus research in electron tubes.

Further career

Engstrom subsequently became head of RCA Laboratories (1943) and Vice President for research (1945), leading RCA's successful

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 ...

efforts in

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

, and

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

. In the immediate aftermath of the war he participated in relief efforts for central Europe and Germany. In his role as head of research he led RCA's development of its first all-electronic color television system after the war, as well as national efforts including BMEWS (the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) and the TIROS (

Television Infrared Observation Satellite Television InfraRed Observation Satellite (TIROS) is a series of early weather satellites launched by the United States, beginning with TIROS-1 in 1960. TIROS was the first satellite that was capable of remote sensing of the Earth, enabling sc ...

) weather-reporting satellite system. RCA's Astro-Electronics Division (1958) was the first organization within the electronics industry to develop space electronic systems. Engstrom became RCA's President (1961-1965) and Chief Executive Officer (1966-1968), serving on its board until 1971. He served on numerous national advisory panels, was a founding member of the

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

, and received honorary degrees from eighteen colleges and universities including

Drexel Institute of Technology Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel In ...

, Findlay College, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. The Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1949 awarded him its silver medal and in 1956 named him a corresponding member. In 1956 he was awarded the John Ericson medal of the American Society of Swedish Engineers. He was an

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

and received numerous awards, including the IEEE Founders Medal in 1966 "For his leadership in management and integration of research and development programs and for his foresighted application of the systems engineering concept in bringing television to the public."

Work

Research and development efforts for television

During the 1930s, Engstrom led RCA's research and development efforts for

, culminating in the company's first commercial black and white television system. Its first complete test took place in 1939, with a transmitter installed on the 85th floor of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

. A mechanical scanner provided a 120-line, 24-frame picture from live and film subjects, and extensive field tests took place with the first

cathode ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...

receivers. Although picture quality was poor, the tests conclusively proved the feasibility of television broadcasting. This effort was one of the earliest applications of a "

system engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their Enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering uti ...

" approach, now standard practice on large technical programs.

Civic and Christian Leader

Engstrom was prominent in a number of educational, professional, and civic organizations. He was active in the Princeton chapters of the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

, the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

and the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

. He was also a member of Westerly Road Church where he served many years as the president of the board of trustees. Engstrom was an active Christian leader, writing for Campus Crusade for Christ:

There is one fundamental concept I have learned very clearly from my business experience. There is a need for a definite and clearly understood charter for one's operations. Having established that charter, there is need for complete belief in it and in the program which it provides. In the Christian life the Bible is our charter. It is the supreme authority for our lives and it is sufficient for our needs. I believe it is a requirement of paramount importance that Christ be the Lord of our whole life, and that our allegiance to Him be in no way divisible.

The Department of Engineering and Computer Science at Cedarville University is named in his honor.

Selected publications

* Engstrom, E. W. "A study of television image characteristics." ''Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers'' 21.12 (1933): 1631-1651. * Engstrom, E. W.
An Experimental Television System: Part I-Introduction
" ''Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers'' 22.11 (1934): 1241-1245. * Engstrom, E. W. "A study of television image characteristics: Part Two: Determination of frame frequency for television in terms of flicker characteristics." ''Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers'' 23.4 (1935): 295-310. * Engstrom, E. W. "Systems engineering: A growing concept." ''Electrical Engineering'' 76.2 (1957): 113-116. * Engstrom, Elmer W. "Science, technology, and statesmanship." ''American Scientist'' 55.1 (1967): 72-79.

References

External links

Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 3 (1989)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engstrom, Elmer William 20th-century American engineers Founding members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Businesspeople from Minneapolis 1901 births 1984 deaths University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni People from Princeton, New Jersey Engineers from New Jersey 20th-century American businesspeople