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Memorial Tributes Volume 11 (2007) / Chapter Skim
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Jack St. Clair Kilby
Pages 182-187

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From page 183...
... In 1937, a severe ice storm hit the region, downing telephone and power lines. Although he was just a teenager at the time, Jack accompanied his father as he worked with amateur radio operators to communicate with isolated customers.
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From page 184...
... At the time, semiconductors required hand soldering of thousands of discrete components, which was a gating factor in the development of more elaborate, reliable, cost-effective electronic circuits. TI, and the industry as a whole, was struggling to resolve the dilemma posed by this "tyranny of numbers." TI made resistors, capacitors, transistors, and diodes, and Jack's first solution was repackaging.
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From page 185...
... In 1962, TI won its first major integrated circuit contract to design and build a family of 22 special circuits for the Minuteman missile. The success with the Minuteman slowly opened the doors to customer acceptance, and computer manufacturers began to adopt integrated circuits as well.
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From page 186...
... He was also the recipient of the first international Charles Stark Draper Prize, the world's top engineering award, from the National Academy of Engineering. Jack was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1967, was an IEEE Fellow, and held more than 60 patents for a variety of electronics inventions.
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From page 187...
... Jack was quick to credit the thousands of engineers who followed him for growing the semiconductor industry. Quoting an earlier Nobel Prize winner in the introductory remarks of his Nobel Lecture, Jack compared his feelings about the tremendous strides the industry had made with those of a beaver looking at Hoover Dam -- "It's based on an idea of mine." Jack was a gentle man and a gentleman, and at 6 feet 6 inches, he was occasionally called a "gentle giant" by the media.
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Key Terms

  • electrical engineering
  • integrated circuits
  • radio operators
  • nobel prize
  • semiconductor industry

  • radio license
  • johnson controls
  • radio operator
  • coat pocket
  • tremendous strides

  • gating factor
  • math functions
  • generating electrical
  • thomas cameron
  • electronic calculator

  • jerry merryman
  • jack moved
  • electronic circuits
  • minuteman missile
  • jim van

  • detailed cost
  • operate radios
  • freitag kilby
  • distinguished professor
  • power lines

  • ice storm
  • team comprised
  • stark draper
  • special circuits
  • storm hit


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