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HOLIDAY PARTY / POT LUCK DINNER
INVENTOR PHILIP ANDERSON
Mr Anderson's Ramapo College site is: http://ww2.ramapo.edu/tas/faculty/Anderson-P.aspx
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: December 11, 1993.
Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 17.
Meeting Program: Talk by inventor/physicist/professor. Pot luck dinner holiday party.
Notes:
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 1994 Philip J De Parto:
The first snowfall of winter graced the December 11, 1993 meeting of the S F A B C. Actually, the amount of snow that fell was negligible, but combined with the rain freezing to ice, the holiday shopping traffic, and the flood of cars exiting a Jets game held at Giant Stadium in the afternoon, it made riding the local highways a memorable experience. The local streets were not bad and little by little the more venturesome souls of the Association trickled in.
Because of the light turnout, the variety of food available for the pot luck dinner was more limited than in past years. Bobbi and Thomas Bauer brought pork ribs; Paul Dellechiaie, barbecued chicken; Mary Ann Denny, ziti; Philip De Parto, a Polynesian party tray; Charles Garofalo, salad; Roy Greenberg, vegetarian stew and a tea brewer (this went over big); the Finches, a ham and broccoli quiche; and the Nashes, clam chowder and a gingerbread Tardis. Desserts included cakes brought by Sharon Archer and Steven Ferrera and a huge box of cookies from William Molendyk, as well as pumpkin bread from Chris Wamsley.
The evening's guest speaker was Philip Anderson. Mr Anderson teaches at Ramapo College in Mahwah, but spoke in his capacity as an inventor who owns 22 U.S. patents. While in college, Mr Anderson did his thesis on an aspect of the new field of amorphous metals. Amorphous metals result when the liquid metal is cooled under certain conditions and the molecules do not line up in their normal crystalline structure. Their magnetic, ductile, and various other properties differ from those of their crystalline brethren.
He was hired out of college by Allied and had worked out the idea for his first invention by the end of his first week. Many others followed. Most had to do with the way amorphous metals react to magnetic or other forms of radiation. For example, a record manufacturer who implants a small strip of this metal in his product can instantly detect a factory-produced vs a bootleg copy of the recording.
A string of gadgets employing this technology led to the creation of his most successful invention. It is an anti-theft device used on clothing and other items. It is a strip of amorphous metal nestled in a plastic casing which has a bar code printed on one side of the plastic jacket. Unless the strip is deactivated by the cashier, the tag causes alarms to ring when you pass by special detectors.
The story of how the American legal and business system managed to prevent him from becoming a multi-millionaire will not be related here, but it is an illustration of the old saw that no good deed goes unpunished.
Mr Anderson described the process by which inventions are patented in the United States. He also explained how other countries get around compensating inventors. In Japan, for example, anyone can violate a patent which is being contested. Therefore, certain industries contest any new invention in their field. As long as they tie up a patent in the system, they can exploit it with impunity. Unlike the United States, a patent-holder who successfully defends his claim cannot go after the manufacturer who exploited his invention while it was being challenged. Furthermore, under Japanese patent law, the expiration clock on the patent begins to run when the patent is first filed, not (as in the U S), the patent is awarded. A skilled attorney can effectively void a patent in Japan by a challenge-and-delay process that continues until after the expiration date of the patent.
Our speaker also spoke of the work he is doing currently. One project is effectively a variant of the anti-shoplifting system. Basically, it involves tagging sponges, instruments, and other itmes used during a medical operation. At the end of the operation, someone waves a metal rod over the patient to determine if anyone left behind a scalpel, for example. (Did you know that during an operation, there is a nurse assigned to make sure that the same number of things that went into the patient came out of the patient to prevent this sort of thing from happening?)
His other recent project involved a device to keep crabs from preying on seeded clams. The device agitates the minute leg hairs of the crab, and they don't like that one bit. During a test at school, a crab jumped straight up and out of the water in the tank when they activated the device.
Mr Anderson also brought along various of his inventions, as well as prototypes, diagrams, and products in various stages of the manufacturing process. The audience was quite interested and peppered him with a steady stream of comments, questions, and suggestions.
Douglas Finch, Christopher Wamsley and Pamela Webber won free books. Thanks go to everyone who helped out during the set up and clean up, especially Paul Dellechiaie and Pamela Webber who stayed to the end.