On Nov. 5, former Wesleyan Professor of Physics Walter Guyton Cady (1874–1974) was celebrated during a virtual program sponsored by Wesleyan and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society. Cady, who earned his PhD in physics in 1900, taught at Wesleyan from 1902 to 1946 and founded the Wesleyan Radio Club in 1914.Cady’s principal interests included electrical discharges in gases, piezoelectricity, ultrasound, piezoelectric resonators and oscillators, and crystal devices. In 1921, he developed the first piezoelectric quartz crystal oscillator, which advanced ultrasonics, sonar, radar, and other electronic applications. They appeared in everyday life through their use in quartz wristwatches. Cady was featured in a September 1943 Middletown Press article for speaking in a film titled “Crystals Go to War.”The virtual event was attended by 90 participants, including Wesleyan faculty, IEEE members, and guests from around the world.Greg Voth, professor of physics, presented the IEEE Milestone Plaque, mounting it outside the Cady Lounge in the Physics Department.Janice Naegle, dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division and Alan Dachs Professor of Science, spoke on “Cady’s Groundbreaking Work on Piezoelectricity.” “A quartz, under pressure, produces an electric current; or conversely, sending a current through the crystal causes the crystal to vibrate,” Naegele said. “And Cady discovered that when the frequency of an oscillating current is applied to the crystal and varied, the crystal responds vigorously. In other words, it resonates with a single frequency and could be used, therefore, as an oscillator to stabilize circuits.”C. Stewart Gillmor, professor emeritus of history and science, spoke on “Resonance and Renaissance: The Work of Walter Cady and Physics at Wesleyan, 1900–1940s.” Gillmor explained that while Cady was in high school, he hoped to become an electrical engineer, however, after two years at Brown University he decided to become a physicist. “But Cady also was a Renaissance man and contributed to early plasma physics, ergonomics, sonar and general acoustics, radio antennas, measurement standards, physiological optics, and bird studies.”Ahmad Safari, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Rutgers University, presented the event’s keynote lecture, “Advances in Development and Applications of Piezoelectric Materials.”
Olivia Drake
James Sims
Editorial Staff
Ziba Kashef