In cooperation with the military services, Bell Telephone Laboratories recently held a five-day symposium on Transistor electronics at the Murray Hill Laboratories in New Jersey, where the Transistor was invented a little more than three years ago. Nearly 300 guests attended the sessions which ran from September 17 to September 21, inclusive.

In compiling the invitation list, the military services were asked by the Laboratories to nominate representatives of their own groups and of contractors whose work was of a nature that would benefit from more detailed information on recent progress in the Transistor field. More than 100 representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force and government agencies attended the sessions. About a score of universities were also represented.

Nearly 100 representatives of a wide range of industrial companies also participated. Large and small, these companies covered the major part of the American electronic industry. The material presented was necessarily "restricted" and consequently all participants in the sessions were either United States citizens or specifically cleared by the military services.

In opening the symposium, Dr. Kelly, stated that improved point contact Transistors are becoming available in small quantities through the Western Electric Company and that the new junction type Transistors are expected to be available for limited experimental purposes by the end of the year.

He said the Laboratories proposed the symposium so that present knowledge of the Transistor and its circuit applications could be made available to circuit and systems engineers wishing to explore their possible use, particularly in military projects. Accelerated application of Transistor devices in the interests of national security is expected to result.

Material was presented at the symposium by nearly a score of Bell Laboratories scientists and engineers working on Transistor electronics. Topics covered were basic Transistor physics and theory, the characteristics of experimental Transistors and Transistor circuitry.

Speakers and the subjects of their papers were:

Present Status, J. A. Morton.

Theory of Semi-Conductors, G. L. Pearson.

Transistor Theory, M. Sparks.

Characteristics and Properties of Point Contact Transistors Applicable in CW Transmission Circuits and Basic Amplifier Properties of Transistors, R. M. Ryder.

Photosensitive Properties of Transistors, J. N. Shive.

Basic Point-Contact Amplifier Behavior, R. M. Ryder.

Power Amplifiers and Duality, G. Raisbeck.

Amplifiers with Junction Transistors, R. L. Wallace, Jr.

Resume of Transistor Characteristics in Their Application to Amplifiers, R. M. Ryder.

Some System Applications of Transistor Amplifiers, R. S. Caruthers.

General Oscillator Considerations, Gordon Raisbeck.

Experimental and Practical Applications of Transistor Oscillators, R. S. Caruthers.

General Modulator Considerations, Gordon Raisbeck.

Modulators in Carrier Telephone Systems, R.S. Caruthers.

Application of Transistors in a High-Speed Computer, J. H. Felker.

Transistor Characteristics and Properties Applicable to Pulse and Control Circuits, A. E. Anderson.

Some Circuit Design Considerations, J. R. Davey.

Introduction to Transistor Building Blocks and Assemblies, A. E. Anderson.

Typical Building Blocks, J. R. Davey.

Binary Counter, R. L. Trent.

Optical Encoder, R. E. Yaeger.

Shift Register and Serial Adder, J. R. Harris.

Data on Experimental Transistor Types, J. A. Morton.

Concluding Remarks, H. A. Affel.

Arrangements for the Symposium were under the direction of a committee consisting of H. A. Affel, Chairman, A. Tradup, H. B. Ely, and T. N. Pope. Mr. Affel was in charge of the technical program and sessions; Mr. Tradup took care of the invitations in cooperation with the Military; and Mr. Ely and Mr. Pope were concerned with the general November, 1951 arrangements, luncheons, transportation, registration, etc. About 250 visitors were brought from New York to Murray Hill and returned each day in buses; these buses were also used to transport them to and from lunch each noon, at which they were guests of the Laboratories. F. E. Dorlon supervised the serving of the luncheons, which were furnished by a caterer.

The size and length of this Symposium obviously required the assistance of many Laboratories people, too numerous to mention here. Appreciation expressed by the visitors, however, for the opportunity to learn about tile Transistor in its present stages of development, indicates that the efforts made in this undertaking were well worth while.

M. J. Kelly and H. A. Affel address the guests. 

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