The ‘steam locomotive’ of printers

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).

Samantha (Somers) and Scott Holcomb

Samantha (Somers) and Scott Holcomb

Samantha (Somers) and Scott Holcomb first met as they were trying to catch the last bus back to campus after…

Kirstin Rigger and Holden McComb

Kirstin Rigger and Holden McComb

Kirstin Rigger and Holden McComb were freshmen living in TJ Hall when they met in 2015. Holden, who lived on…

Jack Ridley: a humanist among engineers

Jack Ridley: a humanist among engineers

Jack Ridley, who won many teaching awards during his career, describes the circumstances he faced as a new...

Solar Village people

Solar Village people

Before there was a Solar Village on campus, there was a sole villager. Allison Arnn graduated in 2005 with an…

Earthquake stops baseball, starts inspections

Earthquake stops baseball, starts inspections

Kamila Crane, who earned a bachelor’s degree (1985) and master’s degree (1986) in civil engineering, was prepared to start rebuilding…

For the love of circuits

For the love of circuits

Emily Hernandez, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2016, began recruiting minorities to STEM fields even before…