Bell Labs is already highly recognized, but in its centennial year, the organization hoped to add more awards to burnish its reputation as one of the world’s leading centers of technical innovation.
On 21 October, IEEE representatives, Nokia Bell Labs leaders, and alumni of the storied institution gathered to celebrate seven technological achievements recognized as IEEE Milestones:
The large number of milestones granted at once is due to an extraordinary effort to achieve the recognitions during Bell Labs’ 100th anniversary year, which IEEE Fellow Peter Vetter, president of Nokia Bell Labs core research, told the attendees was always intended as a full 12 months of celebrations.
Speakers emphasized that celebrating such history inspires today’s—and tomorrow’s—engineers.
“History gives us context,” IEEE President Kathleen Kramer said. “It reminds us why we do what we do.”
Theodore Sizer, Nokia Bell Labs executive vice president, said of the recognition, “We are also here to celebrate the 100 years ahead of us.”
Presenters at the event acknowledged the outsize role Bell Labs has played in the development of many technologies, noting that it helped make IEEE Region 1—the Eastern United States—a powerhouse of innovation. Seventy of the 279 IEEE milestones that have been granted were to technologies developed in Region 1, noted its director, Bala Prasanna, an IEEE life senior member.
“Bell Labs stands at the heart of that legacy,” Prasanna said.
IEEE Life Member Emad Farag, chair of the IEEE North Jersey Section, said, “This section has given birth to technology that is at the heart of modern life.”
Molecular beam epitaxy
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