C. Harry Knowles Founder President, Board of Trustees Knowles Science Teaching Foundation

Harry was born in Birmingham, Alabama in August, 1928. There, he graduated from Ensley High School in 1945 with considerable interest in Chemistry. He enrolled at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1945, in Chemical Engineering. During his freshman year, Harry earned his letter "A" in varsity wrestling, under Coach "Swede" Umbach.

Harry served in the US Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948 at Parris Island, SC, and Arlington, Virginia.

Returning to Auburn on his discharge, he overdid himself in extracurricular activities, particularly for a major in physics. He was Vice President and then acting President of the Student Body, Editor of the Student Yearbook and also of the Freshman Handbook, Auburn's selection for Rhodes Scholar nomination, tapped for Spades (top 10 Seniors), and almost flunked out with the stress of non-scholastic activities. During his founding of the Auburn Chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma, physics honor society, he met Dr. Robert Lagemann of Vanderbilt University. Harry received his BS in physics in 1951. Lagemann later extended Harry an assistantship at Vandy, where he received his MS in physics in 1953.

 Harry and Janet, in 1998, endowed the Howard and Carolyn Carr Chair in Physics at Auburn, in appreciation of Dr. and Mrs. Carr's influence during his student tenure there.

In 1953, the invention of the transistor attracted Harry to Bell Telephone Laboratories. He attended "Kelly College", named after Dr. Mervin Kelly, then Director of Bell Labs. It was taught by the top scientists in each subject being taught, frequently Nobel Prize Laureates, or the world's authority in that subject. At Bell Labs, he worked on diodes, publishing the first papers on voltage breakdown prediction of diffused junction Zener Diodes. He published the first paper on the theory of Hyper-Abrupt PN Junctions, used in many fields. He Chaired the IEEE Semiconductor Device Symbols and Definitions Committee, which standardized industry symbologies to the present system. In 1956, he was responsible for the 107 MHz transmitter transistor for the nation's first satellite, Project Vanguard. He developed the digital Germanium Mesa Transistor that served for the late 1950's and 1960's generation of computers, among them Nike Zeus, IBM's 70xx Series, Minuteman and Univac military computers.

In late 1957, Harry moved to Motorola Semiconductors to work for Dr. Dan Noble, and ultimately with Dr. C. Lester Hogan, as Assistant General Manager for R& D. He was responsible for Motorola's entry into RF transistors, computer transistors, and for its initial integrated circuit operations. Among other patents at Motorola, he invented and developed the "Star Transistor": the 2N2222 which is still an active design some 40+ years later. He directed some of the world's first high-speed wire bonding, die bonding, computerized testing, and key transistor volume production techniques.

In 1962, Harry was appointed the head of Westinghouse's IC operations, where he consolidated Westinghouse's 4 non-commercial operations in the US into one at Elkridge, Maryland, and turned a heavy losing set of operations into one of profit. Westinghouse, leaving the commercial IC field in 1968.  In March, 1964, in an invited paper before the IEEE, Harry published the key concepts in Gordon Moore's 1965 paper on "Moore's Law".

In 1968, Harry left Westinghouse to start Metrologic Instruments, with virtually no capital. Having no experience in optics or lasers, and operating over a diaper laundry service in Westmont, NJ, he developed the techniques for building Helium-Neon Lasers from Scientific American articles, and from library research. In 1968, working with Norm Edmund of Edmund Scientific, he developed a mail-order type He-Ne Laser. Then in November, 1969 working with Les Solomon, Tech Editor for Popular Electronics, he introduced a He-Ne laser kit, that was at that time, Pop Electronic's most popular kit project. By 1972, Metrologic was the world's highest volume He-Ne laser producer, specializing in the education and kit market via direct marketing and through distribution.

In 1971, working with Xerox's Webster, NY operations Metrologic developed, but unfortunately did not patent, 100% modulatable He-Ne lasers that powered Xerox's first laser facsimile machines. In 1972, Metrologic developed a portable, battery powered methane detector, measuring to within 5 parts per million, for detecting leaky gas pipes in Irving, Texas.

Making lasers and associate optics for bar code scanner manufacturers in the early 70's, Harry decided in 1974 that Metrologic should develop its' own bar code scanner, and introduced a programmable high speed bar code monitor for web press scanning of milk cartons and plastic packaging. It was tested at Weyerhauser in Pennsauken in January 1975, and ultimately about 14 systems were sold.

In October 1975, at the NYC Packaging Show, Metrologic showed the first triggered hand held bar code scanner, the X -Scanner. Shortly after, working with UPC Film Masters, Inc., later known as Symbol Technologies, Metrologic made and sold about 48 Verifier 315 scanners, a scanner with a portable head for scanning and checking bar codes in print shops.

Harry recently retired as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metrologic.   He and Janet provided the endowment for KSTF with proceeds from the sale of his shares in MTLG.

Harry personally was inducted into the New Jersey's Inventor Hall of Fame, and in 1999, Metrologic was inducted as a corporation in the NJ's Hall of Fame for inventive corporations.   He is named inventor or co-inventor on over 280 patents, with another hundred pending.  Harry and Janet were married in 1972. Harry brought 3 children, Harry, Robert and Marjorie, and Janet brought Diann and Donnah, all by earlier marriages. They have lived in Moorestown, NJ for 31 years. There, Harry served on Township Council, and as President of Moorestown's Rotary Club during the early 80's.

Harry's outside activities include sailing (he was Chesapeake Bay Men's Sailing Champion in 1964), flying (he holds an instrument rating, commercial pilot's ticket), photography, and astronomy.

Further information on Metrologic can be found at www.metrologic.com