I dedicate this web site to my grandfather, CW Hansell. Although many people have never heard of him, I am proud to let everybody know about his wonderful contributions to the United States of America and the ways he shaped the lives of people all over the world.

Clarence Weston Hansell was born on January 20, 1898 at Medaryville, Indiana. He was the eldest of eight children in a poor family. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from Purdue, he worked for General Electric before it directed its radio business to the newly formed RCA. In 1922, Hansell developed and installed the first vacuum tube transmitter for commercial wireless telegraphy across the Atlantic. In 1925, he founded the RCA radio transmission laboratory at Rocky point, Long Island that he headed for over 30 years.

The Rocky Point Laboratory had an active part in RCA developments of radio and television broadcasting and radio relaying systems, which have grown to services of great magnitude. During the Second World War the laboratory was engaged in development of radio communications equipment, radio navigational equipment, and radar and low drag antenna systems for high speed military aircraft.

Hansell collected over 300 US patents in his lifetime; the most patents held by anyone but Thomas Edison. In 1926, December 30th, he filed an application for a patent which reads "Method for transferring a dial reading to a distance." The technique involved the use of a cable of parallel-laid quartz fibers the ends of which can be cut off plane. Light from the instrument will fall on the ends of fibers and will get transmitted through fibers as an image in the other end. Hansell described other applications also like flexible periscope and quartz fiber endoscope for surgeons. He also found another use as well - a picture transfer cable using fiber bundle. The image can also be scrambled so that pictures cannot be stolen. Today, his discoveries provide the basis for fiber optic data transmission, which serves as the backbone of The Internet.

When Hansell’s friend Edwin Land showed him the Young Polaroid Corporation's plastic polarizing material, Hansell suggested that it might make good sunglasses. Land rewarded him with the first pair of the production line. Hansell also developed a technique to print on paper by controlling the flow of an ink jet. His printer could record 750 words per minutes, from a radio telegraph - an astounding speed in the 30s. Today millions of low cost inkjet printers are used with PCs.

CW Hansell’s contributions to society have laid the groundwork for advancements which still, years after their discovery, improve the quality of life for human-kind and inspire us to make what some consider impossible, completely attainable. Like Austin says, “Together We Can Do It!”