So I was laying on the couch with my dog, coffee in hand, enjoying my typical Sunday morning routine with Charles Osgood. I know I may be the only person under 40 who DVR's CBS Sunday Morning program, but I find the the bugle intro, Osgood's bow tie, and moment of nature ending kind of tranquil. Between the stories about alpacas and Fiesta ware, they had a in-depth special on the spirit of invention at Bell Laboratories. Did you know that Bell Labs has produced over 30,000 patents - an average of more than 7 patents a day! Located mainly in Murray Hill, NJ, the laboratory eventually employed more than 25,000 people at its peak and directly led to 7 Nobel Prizes. Now, you may be asking yourself what this has to do with OSA's Biomed 2012. Good question! Well, George Smith, a plenary speaker (Monday, April 30th, 8:00-8:45am), worked at Bell Labs for over 25 years in various roles, including Head of the Device Concepts Department. As co-inventor of the charge coupled device, a discovery for wich he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009, Dr. Smith helped advance area and linear imaging devices. CCD technology has been used to replace imaging tubes previously needed for commercial cameras and cam-corders. I am certain he will provide interesting insight into research at Bell during his talk first thing Monday morning, but I'm also hoping he also discusses his 55,000 mile sailing adventures around the world after he retired!
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