Les Besser (born 1936[1]) is an American electronics engineer, an expert in microwave technology. He is the founder (1973) of Compact Software, the first commercially successful microwave computer-aided design (CAD) company, which commercialize his program COMPACT (Computerized Optimization of Microwave Passive and Active CircuiTs).[2][3][4]
Les Besser was born and raised in Hungary (interbellum and World War II Hungary and the Hungarian People's Republic). In 1956, he escaped to the West, and he became a Canadian citizen in 1971. Later, he moved to the United States, graduated from the University of Colorado, and, in 2000, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen.[1][4]
Besser began working on simulators during his employment at Hewlett-Packard (1966–1969), using the BASIC computer language and time-sharing computers. After leaving HP, he joined the newly formed microwave division of Fairchild Semiconductor, where he authored his first-generation program, SPEEDY,[5] Besser later converted another program, originally written for his graduate thesis work,[citation needed] to run on a commercial time-share system and launched a part-time business, Compact Engineering (later renamed Compact Software). Besser submitted the description of COMPACT to IEEE Transactions on Circuit Theory in 1972, but it was initially rejected, and was not accepted until after the addition of a large amount of mathematics into it.[4] Besser was associated with development of COMPACT until 1983.[4] In 1985 Besser founded Besser Associates, a company that offers education in microwave technology. He also co-authored a number of textbooks on the subject.[2] In 2004, he retired and sold the company, but continued to occasionally teach courses.[3]
In 2013, The Hewlett-Packard Memory Project published Les Besser's two-volume memoirs, Hurdling to Freedom: A Hungarian's Escape to America, downloadable from the Project's website.[1]