Manfred Robert Schroeder (12 July 1926 – 28 December 2009) was a German physicist, most known for his contributions to

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 ...

and

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

. He wrote three books and published over 150 articles in his field. Born in

Ahlen Ahlen (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Aulen'') is a Town#Germany, town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 30 km southeast of Münster. Ahlen is part of the Warendorf (district), District of Warendorf and is economically the most impo ...

, he studied at 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 ...

(1947–52), earning a vordiplom in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

(1951) and

Dr. rer. nat. for, la, Doctor rerum naturalium, Doctor of Natural Sciences, paren=left, ), abbreviated Dr. rer. nat., is a doctoral academic degree awarded by universities in some European countries (e.g. Germany, Austria and Czech Republic) to graduates in phy ...

(1954) in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. His thesis showed how small regular cavities in concert halls cause unfortunate resonances. He joined the technical staff 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 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

(1954–) researching speech and graphics, securing forty-five patents. With Bishnu Atal, he advanced and promoted

linear predictive coding Linear predictive coding (LPC) is a method used mostly in audio signal processing and speech processing for representing the spectral envelope of a digital signal of speech in compressed form, using the information of a linear predictive model ...

(LPC) during the late 1960s to 1970s and then developed

code-excited linear prediction Code-excited linear prediction (CELP) is a linear predictive speech coding algorithm originally proposed by Manfred R. Schroeder and Bishnu S. Atal in 1985. At the time, it provided significantly better quality than existing low bit-rate algori ...

(CELP) in 1985. Still affiliated with Bell, he rejoined

as ''Universitätsprofessor Physik'' (1969) becoming

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". ...

(1991). He was a visiting professor at

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

(1979). 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 was a promoter of a synchronous dual channel measurement method using reciprocal maximum-length sequences (2003). He led a famed study of 22 concert halls worldwide, leading to a comparison method requiring no travel.

Books

* * * *''Hundert Jahre Friedrich Hund: Ein Rückblick auf das Wirken eines bedeutenden Physikers'' (1996)

Awards and honors

*1969 First Prize at the International Computer Art Competition for his application of concepts from mathematics and physics to the creation of artistic works. *fellow of the Acoustical Society of America *

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 ...

(1971). *

Audio Engineering Society The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or product ...

fellow and Gold medalist (1972) *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 ...

(1979), for "founding the statistical theory of wave propagation in multi-mode media and contributions to speech coding and acoustics". *Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

(1986). *Helmholtz Medal of the German Acoustical Society *1975

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

appointed foreign scientific member *

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

member 1978 *

Rayleigh Medal The Rayleigh Medal is a prize awarded annually by the Institute of Acoustics for "outstanding contributions to acoustics". The prize is named after John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh. It should not be confused with the medal of the same name awarded ...

1984 and 1987 *

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

from 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 ...

(1991), for "theoretical and practical contributions to human communication through innovative application of mathematics to speech, hearing, and concert hall acoustics". * ''ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement'' from the

International Speech Communication Association The International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) is a non-profit organization and one of the two main professional associations for speech communication science and technology, the other association being the IEEE Signal Processing Society ...

(2004). * Technology Award from the German Eduard Rhein Foundation (2004).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schroeder, Manfred 1926 births 2009 deaths People from Warendorf (district) German acoustical engineers 20th-century German physicists Scientists at Bell Labs University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Fellows of the IEEE Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Acoustical Society of America ASA Gold Medal recipients Engineers from North Rhine-Westphalia Academic staff of the University of Tokyo