Elise Harmon


Elise Frances Harmon '' was an American physicist, chemist, and influential contributor to the miniaturization of computers.

Career highlights

; Research
During World War II, she worked in the United States Naval Research Laboratory's Aircraft and Electrical Division. In the early 1950, Harmon worked for the Bureau of Standards and the Naval Research Bureau in Washington, D.C. In 1953, she became chief research printed circuit engineer for the Aerovox Corporation, headquartered at Plant 2 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. At the time, she had the responsibility of directing the research and development, as well as establishing plant procedures for new methods of printed circuitry and printed circuit components. In the 1970s, she was head of Aerovox Corporation's printed circuit activities. She was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Institute of Radio Engineers, and the Texas Academy of Science.
One of Harmon's major contributions to the field was the development of a hot die stamp method to create printed circuits in which silver conductors were infused on thermoplastics and thermosetting materials. She and Philip J. Franklin '' were awarded a patent in 1953 for this technological breakthrough. Harmon also researched the action of grease and lubricants in high speed bearings and established the pilot plant procedures for an entirely new method of printed circuitry.
; Teaching
Harmon taught chemistry, physics, and biology at the Brownsville Junior High School from about 1934 to 1937. She later taught those subjects at Texas Junior College, the University of North Texas, and University of Texas at Austin.
; Death
Harmon died March 6, 1985, in Santa Clara County, California, while a resident of Redwood City, California. She is buried in Section P, Block 35, Grave 1 of the IOOF Cemetery, Denton, Texas, next to her mother, Geoffie Harmon, in Grave 2, and brother, Hamlett Stephen Harmon, in Grave 3. The three grave sites were purchased in 1931 by her father, George Herbert Harmon.

Selected patents

She held numerous patents including, ones for:

Formal education

Around 1927, Harmon graduated from Marshall High School in Marshall, Texas.
In 1931, Harmon earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from University of North Texas. In June 1930, while a student, she was elected president of the W.N. Masters Chemical Society, a student organization she joined as a freshman in 1927, sponsored by Wallace Newton Masters, founder of the Chemistry Department in 1910.
Harmon earned a Master of Science from the University of Texas at Austin.
Harmon did post-graduate work at George Washington University and the University of Maryland.

Awards

Harmon had a brother and a sister. Her brother Ham Harmon, played professional football with the Chicago Cardinals in 1937 for one season. Her sister Ann Ferrari, participated in the Salk Polio Vaccine field trail, and served as Instructor of Physical Therapy at Stanford.

Further resources