The First Solid-State Lamp

As LED's have become progressively less expensive, the future of indoor lighting looks to be all lit up with them. But back in 1967, it was  news when the General Electric company announced its first production-model solid state lamp, the SSL-1. As this press release indicates, it wasn't intended for consumer use, but more specialized circumstances such as space ships, aircraft, and computers. These early SSL's were essentially single LED's in an electrical mount, as opposed to the much more common multiple-LED lights of today. The crystal was enclosed in a cylindrical "top hat" capsule and socketed to fit in the same slots as transistors; the anticipated price of the production model was $6.60 (the equivalent of around $45 today). As one of the team who helped invent and design this lamp, my father Dr. Ralph M. Potter was the recipient of an award from R&D magazine. It's amazing to me to think that this same technology, invented with such a modest set of possible applications, may well end up being the most common form of electrical illumination in the future. You can read the full press release here.

Dad in the Lab

Given the 35 years he worked there, it's always strange to me that there aren't more photos of my dad in  his lab at General Electric's NELA Park. Still, among the few that have survived are some doozies -- the one above is among my favorites, as a) my dad is actually testing a lamp;. and b) the loud print shirt with the big collar, along with the long sideburns, mark this definitely as mid-1970's. 

NELA Men's Octet

Here we have, from circa 1964, a photo of the NELA Men's Octet, a smaller group within the larger NELA Men's Chorus. My dad is third from the right, and his lab-mate Bob Woodhouse fifth. No doubt many corporations and civic groups had a chorus back then, but NELA, with its campus-like buildings and collegiate atmosphere, seems as though it would have been especially congenial to such choral conviviality; the text suggests that concerts were held regularly. The pencil-thin ties and tapered slacks add a little extra delight to this period photo. 

Bob Woodhouse in the lab ...

Among my parents' photos are a number taken in the laboratories of the Lighting Research Division of GE at NELA Park. This one shows my dad's old friend, Bob Woodhouse, at work (far left). Bob was a bit of a genius, a bit of a raconteur, and a bit of a geek -- I have many memories of him and his family, whose cottage on the shore of Lake Erie was a frequent visiting-place in the summer. Bob was also a dedicated home electronics amateur, and built all kinds of radio receivers and transmitters from scratch. For many years, I had one of his tube receivers in my bedroom -- until one of the transformers blew! -- but I'll always remember the glow of the tubes and the warm analog sound. I'd guess this photo dates to the early 1960's -- I'm not sure who that is in the white coat in the foreground.

Work for Hire

One way I happen to know my father's date of hire at NELA Park is this contract, signed by him on December 1, 1952. Every scientist who worked for GE was expected to sign a similar agreement, the result of which is that everything they invented or developed at GE would be the intellectual property of GE, and GE would be entitled to any patents or other claims originating in it employees' "work for hire." It's an old legal principle, enshrined in Copyright law as well as patent matters -- but just to be on the safe side, this contact was presented to all new hires.

NELA Park 1962

My dad worked as a research scientist at NELA Park in East Cleveland, Ohio, from 1952 until his retirement in the late 1980's. This photo was taken in 1962, about ten years into his time there; the photographer had the clever idea of posing everyone in a building stairwell. Great idea, though the camera's depth of field was not quite up to the task, and those at the bottom seem to me to be a little out of focus. I think everyone here was part of the Lighting Research division, and from there was organized by having the executives at the top, the research scientists next (grouped by lab), and the engineers and support staff further down. My dad, Dr. Ralph M. Potter, is the third from the left of the stairwell corner in the second tier -- nearby is his longtime boss, John Blank, and lab-mates Dick Hansler, Bob Woodhouse, and Manuel Aven. I don't recognize many of the others -- this was taken when I was only two years old -- but I love the "Mad Men" era clothes, heavy dark-rimmed glasses, and clean-cut lines of this group; it feels like a time capsule from an era when science and technology mattered, and the people with the test tubes held the world in their hands.