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).

First woman department chair

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…

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…

Movie magic

Movie magic

The technology used to create Davy Jones from “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and characters from other films…

Katie (Thompson) and Dan Aiken

Katie (Thompson) and Dan Aiken

Katie (Thompson), a member of Zeta Tau Alpha, and Dan Aiken, a member of Sigma Pi, were living next door…

Robert and Mary (Shultz) Hoffmann

Robert and Mary (Shultz) Hoffmann

Robert Hoffmann knew right away when Mary (Shultz) walked into a fraternity house party with a group of four friends…

A civil war fortress

A civil war fortress

As the Civil War raged on, the Union Army, following a defeat at Wilson’s Creek in southwest Missouri, fell back…