Gerhard M. Sessler (born 15 February 1931 in Rosenfeld,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany) is a German inventor and scientist. He is

Professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmsta ...

. Together with James E. West, he invented the foil electret microphone at

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several lab ...

in 1962. Together with

Dietmar Hohm Dietmar is a German name#Forenames, German forename. *Dietmar I (archbishop of Salzburg), ruled 874 to 907 *Dietmar von Aist, Minnesinger from a baronial family of Upper Austria, documented between 1140 and 1171 *Dietmar Bär (born 1961), German a ...

, he invented the

MEMS microphone MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) is the technology of microscopic devices incorporating both electronic and moving parts. MEMS are made up of components between 1 and 100 micrometres in size (i.e., 0.001 to 0.1 mm), and MEMS devices ...

, also known as the silicon microphone in 1983.

Life

From 1950 to 1959, Sessler studied physics at Universities of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Munich, and

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. He received his

diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

a in 1957 and his Ph.D. from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

in 1959. After working in the United States at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

until 1975, he returned to the academia in Germany. From 1975 to 2000, he worked as a professor of

electrical engineering 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 ...

at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the

where he invented the silicon microphone. In 1999, Sessler was named

at the same university. He holds over 100 international

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

, among them 18 US-patents. The first one, US 3,118,022, with James E. West, was issued on 14 January 1964. Sessler is the author/editor of several books on electrets 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 2014, together with

Ning Xiang Ning Xiang () is a Chinese-American acoustical physicist, former Research Engineer of HEAD acoustics, and former Research Scientist of Fraunhofer Institut fuer Bauphysik, and of National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA). He is now Director an ...

, he co-edited a memorial book on Manfred R. Schroeder published by Springer. Furthermore, he is well known for his over 300 scientific papers in prestigious international magazines and journals. Gerhard Sessler was married to Renate Sessler (now deceased) and has three children: Cornelia, Christine and Gunther.

Publications

* * * *

Awards

* Fellow of the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...

, 1964 *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 ...

, 1976 *Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

, 1991 * George R. Stibitz Trophy of

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

, 1993 * Helmholtz-medal of the

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik e.V. (DEGA) (''German society for acoustics'') was established 1988 to promote research and application of acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liqu ...

, 1993 * Silver Helmholtz-Rayleigh-medal of the

, 1997 * Induction into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a US patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also operate ...

, 1999 * Technology Award of the

Eduard Rhein Foundation The Eduard Rhein Foundation was founded in 1976 in Hamburg (Germany) by Eduard Rhein. The goal of the foundation is to promote scientific research, learning, arts, and culture. This is done in particular by granting awards for outstanding achieveme ...

, 2007 *honorary doctorate from the

National Academy of Sciences of Belarus The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB; ; , , ) is the national academy of Belarus. History Inbelkult - predecessor to the Academy The Academy has its origins in the Institute of Belarusian Culture (Inbelkult), a Belarusian acade ...

, 2010 * Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering of

The Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

, with James E. West, 2010 *

IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal The IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal is an award given by the IEEE and Royal Society of Edinburgh, UK. It is named after James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), who made fundamental contributions to the classical theory of electromagnetic rad ...

, 2012 * Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2015

References

External links

*
Inventor Hall of Fame Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sessler, Gerhard M. 1931 births Living people 20th-century German inventors Fellows of the IEEE Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the Acoustical Society of America ASA Gold Medal recipients Academic staff of Technische Universität Darmstadt Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates