| Notes |
- The Whittier Daily News (CA)
February 10, 2008
MEAD-Dr. Donald C. Mead, PhD, 71, born July 14, 1936 in Whittier, California, passed away in Carlsbad, CA. The son of Pearl Eckles Mead'34 and W. Don Mead '31 Whittier High graduates.
At Whittier High Don was a member of the 1952 Pacific Coast Football Champions coached by Jack Mele. He attended the University of Redlands, BA Economics, 1958. He was a member of the SCIAC Championship 1955 University of Redlands Bulldog Football Team, a member of Pi Chi Fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa, national leadership society. He received: at Stanford University, a Master's of Science in Electrical Engineering, 1960; and at UCLA, a PhD in Electrical Engineering, 1971. E mployed by Hughes Electronics, he was instrumental in the space program which developed the first synchronous satellites. Then, at Hughes' Missile Systems Group, he developed the first "wireless" tow missiles. He designed the first automated production lines using electronic robots for factories. In 1986 he received Machine Vision Association's President's Award for his pioneering work. Dr. Mead, at Hughes' Corporate, established the Laboratory of Excellence where digital compression of information for sate llite communication was developed as the forerunner of Direct TV. The International Standards Organization (ISO): Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) was founded to develop worldwide standards for compression of information and its resulting digital content displays, including HD TV. He attended and made presentations all over the world for MPEG and later satellite telephone communications. He authored an acclaimed book DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS: An MPEG Enabled Service. Satellite communica tions technology provided the application for electronic digital cinema. Dr. Mead holds several patents in all these cutting edge fields.
Don is survived by his wife Barbara, brother Jim Mead of Reedsport, Oregon, and 4 children and 12 grandchildren.
|
1936 - 2008 (71 years)
[1, 2, 3] 
