{"id":6580,"date":"2021-02-24T12:52:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T17:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/?post_type=videos&#038;p=6580"},"modified":"2021-03-11T13:55:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T18:55:20","slug":"cheers-to-a-trailblazer-dr-james-west","status":"publish","type":"videos","link":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/videos\/cheers-to-a-trailblazer-dr-james-west","title":{"rendered":"Cheers to a Trailblazer: Dr. James West"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the world of video, audio is a crucial part of the production process. However, have you ever wondered who was behind the technology that made microphones possible?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this recorded live stream, we cover the life and work of Dr. James West, inventor of the electret microphone, which represents around 90% of all microphones produced today. We\u2019ll explore his childhood, professional life, and other impressive endeavors of the 90-year-old inventor. Click below to read the full post and gain some nerdy knowledge about microphones along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":6593,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_eb_attr":""},"video_category":[333],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cheers to a Trailblazer: Dr. James West | SproutVideo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the world of video, audio is a crucial part of the production process. However, have you ever wondered who was behind the technology that made\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/videos\/cheers-to-a-trailblazer-dr-james-west\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cheers to a Trailblazer: Dr. James West | SproutVideo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the world of video, audio is a crucial part of the production process. 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However, have you ever wondered who was behind the technology that made modern-day microphones possible?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In this post, we\u2019ll be going over the life and work of Dr. James West, inventor of the electret microphone, which represents around 90% of all microphones produced today. We\u2019ll explore his childhood, professional life, and other impressive endeavors of the 90-year-old inventor. Keep reading to gain some nerdy knowledge about microphones along the way.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:separator -->\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<!-- \/wp:separator -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The video below is the first installment of our new Cheers series, where we raise a glass to important people and topics related to the video industry. This episode is centered around Dr. James West and his contributions to the world of video and beyond. Join Courtney Purchon, Head of Marketing, and Ikey Ajavon, Marketing Content Strategist, as they share stories from Dr. James West\u2019s life and accomplishments. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:html -->\n<iframe class=\"sproutvideo-player\" src=\"https:\/\/videos.sproutvideo.com\/embed\/069ddebd101be2c38f\/86b3d53e3d56afb8?playerColor=4c78ae\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- \/wp:html -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2>Early Life<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>James West was born during a particularly difficult time in U.S. history. Born in 1931, he not only had to grow up during the Great Depression but also deal with life as a Black man in America during the Jim Crow era. This was a time when most public places were segregated, and people of color faced widespread discrimination and racially motivated violence.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Thankfully for all of us, in spite of the difficult time period he grew up in, he had a particularly strong interest in how things worked from a young age. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.avnetwork.com\/news\/shure-celebrates-90th-birthday-of-dr-james-west-african-american-pioneer-of-microphone-technology\">The quote from Dr. West<\/a> below perfectly exemplifies this point.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":6579} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/d9pfvpeevxz0y.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/JamesWest_Quote1_v2-1200x675.png\" alt=\"Quote from Dr. James West\" class=\"wp-image-6579\"\/><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading {\"level\":3} -->\n<h3>Sparking His Interest<\/h3>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One event in his childhood left a lasting impact that pushed him toward his path as an inventor. In an attempt to fix an old radio he found, a young James West proceeded to connect the radio to a light socket, as regular outlets were not commonly installed in houses at this time. Ultimately, <a href=\"https:\/\/pages.jh.edu\/jhumag\/0903web\/west.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"he was electrocuted, (opens in a new tab)\">he was electrocuted,<\/a> but thankfully was not injured in the incident. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:quote -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cI had to understand electricity. And today, I can go in a socket and re-wire it without turning the main off, because I know how AC floats, and DC, for that matter.\u201d <\/p><cite>Dr. James West <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<!-- \/wp:quote -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Typically, people tend to shy away from events that harm them, but for Dr. West, this only intensified his interest in how things worked.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2>Overcoming Cultural Setbacks<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Throughout his career, Dr. West had to overcome adversity. As many of us can relate, choosing a professional path to follow is stressful enough as we enter our college years. Dr. West, however, had to choose a path with the pressures of what was acceptable for Black people at the time. He started on a pre-med path, but ultimately switched to physics to follow his passion. This move wasn\u2019t supported by his parents, who believed the likelihood of a Black physicist making it during that time was low.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Against all odds, Dr. West <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biography.com\/inventor\/james-west\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"graduated with his degree in physics from Temple University (opens in a new tab)\">graduated with his degree in physics from Temple University<\/a> in 1957, and joined the team at Bell Laboratories as an acoustic scientist. He chose Bell over other institutions because their organization was more diverse than others at the time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:quote -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\"When you\u202fput\u202fa\u202fbunch\u202fof\u202fnerds\u202ftogether, it kind of normalizes things,\" West says. \"But one of the other reasons that I joined Bell Labs was that I met and saw other\u202fblack\u202fscientists.\"<\/p><cite>Dr. James West via <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uspto.gov\/learning-and-resources\/journeys-innovation\/field-stories\/going-beyond-horizon\" target=\"_blank\">United States Patent and Trademark Office<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<!-- \/wp:quote -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Following in the footsteps of his mentor, W. Lincoln Hawkins, the first Black researcher at Bell Labs, Dr. West would go on to produce many great inventions, including his most famous: the electret microphone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2>The Invention of the Electret Microphone&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In 1962, Dr. James West and co-inventor Gerhard Sessler c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.invent.org\/inductees\/james-e-west#:~:text=In%201962%2C%20James%20West%20and,small%20size%2C%20and%20light%20weight.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"reated the first foil electret microphone (opens in a new tab)\">reated the first foil electret microphone<\/a>. However, like most great inventions, there was a happy mistake that led to this invention.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>While fixing a pair of headphones, Dr. West accidentally short-circuited them, which unexpectedly got the headphones working again. However, they were now operational without a power source, whereas before, they had required a 500 volt battery to work. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In effect, Dr. West had created a version of the invention he would later patent. The headphones were able to work without a power source because the short-circuited headphones were holding a charge. When the headphones were short-circuited, Dr. West inadvertently created a dielectric material that could hold a charge for a period of time, also known as an electret.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:quote -->\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\"I couldn't get this phenomena and what I had observed out of my head,\" West says. \"It was there in kind of a permanent way. I began to try to unravel this problem and understand, a least a little bit, what was going on.\"<\/p><cite>Dr. James West via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/stem-solutions\/articles\/2018-01-24\/scientist-james-west-on-finding-passion-inventing-the-electret-microphone-and-pushing-through-adversity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">U.S News<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<!-- \/wp:quote -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Dr. West and Sessler eventually found a way to create a material with a long-lasting charge by utilizing Teflon. Their final product would be able to hold a charge for about 100 years, essentially guaranteeing the condenser component of these microphones would never need an external power source. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>While other components of the microphone still require some power, the charge required to operate is significantly lower. Options like phantom power, or very small batteries, usually 1.5 - 5 volts, usually suffice. Billions of electret microphones have been made since they began selling commercially back in 1968.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>You\u2019ll find these types of microphones in a wide variety of devices, from phones to baby monitors, and especially in microphones used for video. It\u2019s safe to say our lives would be very different without this invention. To learn more about microphones and how to optimize them for your video projects, explore the <a href=\"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/video_category\/audio\">audio section of our video library.<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2>How Microphones Work<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Microphones were around long before Dr. James West and Gerhard Sessler joined Bell Labs, albeit not quite as efficient. To understand just how impactful their invention was, it\u2019s important to have an understanding of how microphones actually work. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Microphones work by capturing sound waves and converting them to electrical signals. This happens over the course of a few steps. Sound waves pass through an object called a diaphragm. This movement is then measured and transformed into an electrical signal.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Traditional microphones would rely on a battery to help perform this task. And, these microphones required a lot of power, which made them bulky and expensive to replicate. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cuidevices.com\/product-spotlight\/electret-condenser-microphones#:~:text=The%20working%20principle%20of%20an,diaphragm%20and%20the%20back%20plate.&amp;text=This%20change%20in%20voltage%20is,after%20a%20dc%2Dblocking%20capacitor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"electret microphone (opens in a new tab)\">electret microphone<\/a>, as mentioned above, has its own charge and doesn\u2019t require a battery. This makes the whole process more efficient, smaller to produce, and cost-effective. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2>Awards &amp; Activism<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>While Dr. James West may not be a household name in the video world (yet), he has gotten a lot of <a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ece\/faculty\/west-james-e\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"recognition in the scientific community. (opens in a new tab)\">recognition in the scientific community.<\/a> Over the course of his long career, he\u2019s gotten numerous honorary doctorates, medals, and honors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":6578} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/d9pfvpeevxz0y.cloudfront.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/JamesWest_AwardsHonors-1200x675.png\" alt=\"Dr. James Wests Accomplishments \" class=\"wp-image-6578\"\/><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>In regards to activism, his journey as a Black inventor inspired him to provide as much help as possible to those who would follow in his path. Throughout his career, Dr. West spent time mentoring women and underrepresented minorities as time would allow. Dr. West has said he's most proud of his work to set up the Corporate Research Fellowship Program while still working at Bell Labs. This program funded, mentored, and graduated over 600 Ph.D.\u2019s over 30 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2>James West Today&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Dr.West continued on his path to make the world a better place after retiring in 2001. He\u2019s currently working as a <a href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/ece\/faculty\/west-james-e\/\">professor at John Hopkins University<\/a>, serves on the board of directors of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ingenuityproject.org\/\">Ingenuity Project<\/a>, continues to mentor students, and is working with his<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/features\/baltimore-insider\/bs-fe-inventor-james-west-20180418-story.html\"> daughter\u2019s company<\/a> to bring a <a href=\"https:\/\/sonavilabs.com\/feelix-pro\/\">digital stethoscope<\/a> to market.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:separator -->\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n<!-- \/wp:separator -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>All things considered, this 90-year-old inventor doesn\u2019t plan on slowing down any time soon.&nbsp;Dr. James West\u2019s legacy extends far beyond his inventions. His inspiring journey through life\u2019s challenges will continue to inspire far into the future. Let us know your favorite fact about Dr. West in the comments below. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","post_title":"Cheers to a Trailblazer: Dr. James West","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"cheers-to-a-trailblazer-dr-james-west","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-02-21 18:27:13","post_modified_gmt":"2024-02-21 23:27:13","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/?p=6576","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/videos\/6580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/videos"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/videos"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"video_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sproutvideo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/video_category?post=6580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}