Gary Gordon
BornNovember 16, 1939 Portland, Oregon
EducationU.C. Berkeley BSEE Stanford MSEE
SpouseNicola Whitney Gordon

Gary Gordon is a retired engineer, naval officer, associate professor at San Jose State University, Agilent Technologies Fellow, and co-founder of Cambotics, a company pioneering robotic studio camera dollies.

He is a named inventor on over 100 patents including the modern optical computer mouse,[1] and his works have been featured on over 20 journal and magazine covers. At Hewlett Packard he pioneered instrumentation for testing computer circuits including the first Logic Probe,[2][3] Logic Clip,[4][5] Logic Pulser,[6][7][8] and HP's first Logic Analyzer.[9] Subsequently he led a number of significant projects including HP's distance-measuring laser interferometer,[10] the ORCA Robot,[11] and various instruments used in analytical chemistry and bioscience. His research also included computer input devices, and in 1999 he was awarded HP's first annual Prize for Innovation[12] for co-inventing the modern optical computer mouse which measures travel by correlating successive images of the work surface.

His philanthropic interests include writing eye tracking software for controlling a screen cursor with one's gaze and the SoftSwitch[13] input device, both for paralyzed computer users, teaching radio technology at Handiham radio camps, and creating a short video showcasing their work.[14]

In 2017 the Computer History Museum produced a 45 minute video[15] and transcript[16] chronicling Gordon's career and his contributions to the development of digital computers.

References

  1. ^ US 6433780, "Seeing eye mouse for a computer system" 
  2. ^ "IC Logic Checkout Simplified" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 6. 1969. pp. 14–16.
  3. ^ US 3543154, "Logic Probe" 
  4. ^ "Logic Clip" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 10. 1973. p. 12.
  5. ^ US 3670245, "Logic Clip" 
  6. ^ "Logic Pulser and Probe: a New Digital Troubleshooting Team (cover story)" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 9. 1972. pp. 2–7.
  7. ^ US 3781689, "Tristate pulse generator for producing consecutive pairs of pulses" 
  8. ^ "Current Tracer: A New Way to Find Low Impedance Logic-Circuit Faults (cover story)" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 12. 1976. pp. 2–8.
  9. ^ "The Logic Analyzer: A New Instrument for Observing Logic Signals (cover story)" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 10. 1973. pp. 2–16.
  10. ^ "A Two-Hundred-Foot Yardstick with Graduations Every Microinch (cover story)" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 8. 1970. pp. 2–9.
  11. ^ "ORCA: Optimized Robot for Chemical Analysis (cover story)" (PDF). HP Journal. No. 3. 1993. pp. 6–19.
  12. ^ Agilent Labs' Barney Oliver Prize Brings Prestige and Honor to Annual Recipients, 26 October 2007
  13. ^ US 6771190, "Signalling apparatus for the physically disabled" 
  14. ^ url=https://www.youtube.com/ Handiham: Making Contacts Making Friends
  15. ^ Oral History of Gary Gordon
  16. ^ Gordon, Gary oral history, Computer History Museum, March 2017
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