In Memory of Joel E. Goldmacher

by Joe Castellano

Joel E. Goldmacher, 71, a pioneer in the development of liquid-crystal materials and displays, died on January 22, 2009, in Lakeland, Florida.

Joel E. Goldmacher

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Goldmacher earned his B.S. degree in chemistry in1959 from the City College of New York. He then attended Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, where he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1963.

Goldmacher started his career as a member of the technical staff at the David Sarnoff Research Laboratories of RCA Corp. in Princeton, New Jersey. He was the first organic chemist to be employed at this corporate research center. His early work involved the synthesis of organic semiconductors and insulators. Later, he developed materials for electro-optical devices and optical recording media. Goldmacher was a member of the team that developed the world's first liquid-crystal display (LCD).

In 1966, he and his co-worker developed the first room-temperature nematic liquid-crystal material, opening the way for practical LCD devices to be made. For this milestone achievement, he was a co-recipient of RCA's highest award, the David Sarnoff Team Award in Science, in 1969.

In 1970, Goldmacher left RCA to become one of the founding members of Optel Corp. in Princeton, New Jersey, one of the first compa-nies to manufacture LCDs and digital watches. As Vice President of Research, he led the devel-opment of advanced liquid-crystal materials and electronic devices. Later, he became Optel's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. When Optel was sold in 1978, Goldmacher formed Springwood Associates with two other Optel executives to develop various electronic products.

During his career, Goldmacher lectured extensively around the world and was an author or co-author of numerous scientific publications; he also holds 17 patents.

He is survived by his wife, Judith; children Neil, Hope, Jonathan, and Tracy; and six grandchildren.

 


2008 SID Vehicles & Photons Symposium

by Robert Donofrio

The Metropolitan Detroit Chapter of the Society for Information Display hosted the 2008 SID Vehicles & Photons Symposium at the University of Michigan at Dearborn on October 16 and 17, 2008. The event proved popular; even though the automotive industry had already been hit with an increasing number of job layoffs and falling stock prices, 88 people attended. The majority of the attendees were from Michigan, but international participants from the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Taiwan, and Japan were on hand as well.

Twenty-four papers, including the keynote address, tutorials, and invited papers were presented in this two-day symposium, which was sponsored by Denso, Yazaki, Continental Automotive, and Futaba. This year's keynote was given by Michael Heimrath of BMW. He discussed automotive display integration and cost-reduction issues that addressed challenges faced by many in the audience.

Twelve companies had booths at the meeting. Two automobile demos showed new display implementations for automotive-industry applications. One demo involved a Ford Edge using a 3M screen-coating tech-nology and the other was a Continental Automotive display in a BMW. Many of the attendees were able to use this opportunity to see in person how the various new technology improvements perform.

 

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Symposium Co-Chair Mark Larry of Ford Motor Corp. (at left) delivers the opening remarks at the 2008 SID Vehicles & Photons Symposium.

 

Another feature of the conference was the panel discussion on "Display Integration and Future Display Opportunities" in which participants from GM, Ford, and Chrysler Automotive, as well as from automotive supplier companies, discussed where the industry is heading.

Awards were presented to Ben DiCicco of Chrysler and to Mark Larry of Ford for their service as General Chair and Co-Chair of the Symposium, respectively. The Scholarship Awards Committee was also re-invigorated, with its new Chair Dr. Alan Sobel. These awards will be presented during next year's symposium.

Overall, the Symposium was both informative and enjoyable. The spacious facilities of the University of Michigan at Dearborn permitted many opportunities for attendees to discuss display issues with their peers.

The strong attendance would seem to demonstrate that the Metropolitan Detroit Chapter of the SID continues to serve its members through holding this annual symposium. •

 

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Ben DiCicco of Chrysler receives a service award from Detroit Chapter Chair Silviu Pala of Denso America.