John Torkel Wallmark (4 June 1919 – 5 February 2007) was a Swedish electrical engineer and researcher in semiconductor electronics and innovation technology.
John Torkel Wallmark | |
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Born | |
Died | 5 February 2007 | (aged 87)
Known for | Thin-film transistor Trochotron Unipolar direct-coupled transistor logic |
Awards | Cedergren Medal (1984) Polhem Prize (1982) |
Torkel Wallmark was born in Stockholm. He graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology in 1944, became technology licentiate in 1947 and technology doctor in 1953. He was then a researcher at Radio Corporation of America in Princeton, US 1953–1964.[1][2]
In 1964, he returned to Sweden as a professor in solid state electronics at Chalmers University of Technology. (The professorship was initially named electron physics III.[1]) In 1983 he transferred to a personal professorship in innovation technology at Chalmers, which was the first in this subject area in Sweden.[2] Torkel Wallmark's business in innovation technology has contributed to the establishment of seed companies based on research at Swedish technical colleges, especially Chalmers.[3]
Torkel Wallmark was elected as a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1970 and became a member of the Academy of Sciences[which?] in 1984. He was awarded the 1982 Polhems Prize for research in the field of solid state electronics, 1989 KTH's grand prize for building an innovation center at Chalmers,[4] and 1989 The Academy of Engineering Sciences major gold medal with the motivation "for his internationally outstanding efforts in semiconductor technology and his incentive for industrial new enterprise".[5]