When Philip Chen joined Xerox Corp. in 1967, only big companies could afford printers and scanners. Now retired and with several patents to his name, Chen developed the Xenon flash lamp printer, which he considers the “steam locomotive” of printers. He also designed an optical disc drive for the Library of Congress to store its card catalogue information, which became the predecessor of CD drives. Chen’s next big project was to come up with a low-cost image scanner (they typically cost $20,000 at that time) for a company in Taiwan called Microtek. Chen earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from S&T in 1965.
Share This Story
Spark a Memory?
Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).
Kayla Klossner-Thompson and Cole Thompson
Kayla Klossner-Thompson and Cole Thompson attended the same high school, but their friendship didn’t start until they met at S&T…
Camille (Anderson) and Mark Herrera
Camille (Anderson) and Mark Herrera met in February 2007 after a mutual friend arranged for a double date at Alex’s…
First woman department chair
In 1990, Dr. Elizabeth Cummins was named chair of Missouri S&T’s English department. She joined S&T as an instructor in…
Rosalie (Larson) and Stan Hadley
Rosalie (Larson) and Stan Hadley met one Friday in September 1977 in TJ Hall. Rosalie’s roommate was a lab partner…
Hycintia Subash and Vincent Allen
When Hycintia Subash and Vincent Allen were seated next to each other at an etiquette dinner in March 2014, neither…
NIH’s first woman scientist
Dr. Ida Bengtson was the first woman the National Institutes of Health (NIH) hired as a scientist in 1916. For…