Valerie L. Thomas, Inventor (1943)

The honor of being this blog’s first featured personality goes to Valerie L. Thomas.

Two of Valerie L. Thomas’s notable contributions among many are:

• In 1980, she received a patent for her "illusion transmitter," which uses a concave mirror on the transmitting end as well as on the receiving end to produce optical illusion images. NASA uses the technology today, and scientists are currently working on ways to incorporate it into tools for surgeons to look inside the human body, and possibly for television sets and video screens one day.¹


• Project manager for the development of NASA’s image-processing system on Landsat, the first satellite to send images from outer space.²

External Links:

1. Valerie L. Thomas Retires


2. Inventor of the Week: Archive (mit.edu)


3. Valerie Thomas – Valerie Thomas and the Illusion Transmitter

References:

1. Inventor of the Week: Archive (mit.edu)


2. Valerie Thomas – Valerie Thomas and the Illusion Transmitter