HRL Board Director George Heilmeier Honored with the NAE's 2012 Draper Award

WASHINGTON, D.C, January 5, 2011—HRL Laboratories Board Director Dr. George H. Heilmeier was recognized today among others with The National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) highest honor—the Charles Draper Award—which annually goes to engineers who have made significant contributions to society through their work in engineering.

Heilmeier was among four professionals recognized for their contributions to the development of liquid crystal display, or LCD technology.

In the 1960s, Heilmeier discovered the dynamic scattering mode—or DSM—which enables liquid crystals to scatter light when a voltage is applied. This discovery led to the development of the first LCD display, which today is used worldwide in a variety of everyday devices, including calculators, clocks, computer monitors, smart phones and television screens.
 
“The engineers we are honoring have created windows through which people are learning about and shaping our world,” NAE President Charles M. Vest said. “The LCD is the human interface with much of today’s technology and information.”

Other engineers honored with the 2012 Draper Award include T. Peter Brody, Wolfgang Helfrich and Martin Schadt, who with Heilmeier will be honored at a gala dinner event in Washington, D.C., on February 21.

The annual $500,000 Draper award was established by the NAE in 1988 in honor of Charles “Doc” Draper, the “father of inertial navigation,” according to the NAE.

Read the NAE Announcement.

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HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, California (www.hrl.com) is a corporate research-and-development laboratory owned by The Boeing Company and General Motors specializing in research into sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. HRL provides custom research and development and performs additional R&D contract services for its LLC member companies, the U.S. government, and other commercial companies.

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