- Woody Norris
Elwood G. "Woody" Norris is an American
inventor and founder of multiplepublic corporation s he established to promote and commercialize his inventions.Career
Forgoing college, Norris joined the
United States Air Force in 1956 and was trained as a nuclear weapons specialist, taking courses at theUniversity of New Mexico . In 1959, he became the director of the Engineering Experiment Station for theUniversity of Washington .In the ensuing years, Norris became a serial
entrepreneur , founding and co-founding many public and private companies to raise capital and commercialize his inventions.Norris was the winner of the 2005
Lemelson-MIT Prize for his invention of a "hypersonic sound" system which allows sound to be focused with laser-like precision, Norris is currently the chairman of two companies he founded -American Technology Corporation in San Diego andAirScooter Corporation in Henderson, Nevada. Norris said he plans to use the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize money to establish acharitable foundation to help struggling independent inventors. [cite press release
title = Inventor Wins $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize for Revolutionizing Acoustics
publisher =Massachusetts Institute of Technology
date = 2004-04-18
url = http://web.mit.edu/invent/n-pressreleases/n-press-05LMP.html
accessdate = 2007-11-14]Woody Norris inventions
Companies founded by Woody Norris
Public
* 1980:
American Technology Corporation of San Diego, California* 1988:
e.Digital Corporation of San Diego, CA. Originally named Norris Communications Corporation ofBritish Columbia, Canada - multiple corporate changes from origin.* 1992:
Patriot Scientific Corporation of Carlsbad, CA* 2000:
AirScooter Corporation of Henderson, NVOther
* 1979: Norris Industries, Inc., a
Utah Corporation (entity # 727009-0142) [ [https://secure.utah.gov/bes/action/index Utah Business Entity Search] ]* 1983: Norcom Electronics Corporation, a
Utah corporation (entity # 839976-0142) that was later re-namedJabra Corporation and was owned for a time by American Technology, which sold it to Norris Communications (now e.Digital), which sold it off.
* 1988: Norcom Communications Corporation, aUtah corporation (entity # 994358-0142)* 2000: Aerotwin Motors Corporation, a
Nevada corporation . [ [https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpDetails.aspx?lx8nvq=sfmr0IZg2UP1Y0QrB1A%252fgA%253d%253d Aerotwin Motors Corporation] ]* 2001: Mt. Savage Productions, a
Nevada corporation motion picture production company. [ [https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpDetails.aspx?lx8nvq=GeonLb1MMrmrzPpdAsdzpg%253d%253d Mt. Savage Productions corporate info] ]* 2005: Elwood Norris Inventions, LLC, a Nevada corporation. [ [https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpDetails.aspx?lx8nvq=D3x7L5s8EsoPSgWOWNzRzA%253d%253d Elwood Norris Inventions, LLC] ]
* 2005: The Elwood and Stephanie Norris Foundation, a Nevada corporation. [ [https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpDetails.aspx?lx8nvq=oeQCgathPNdQN84tECmTyQ%253d%253d The Elwood and Stephanie Norris Foundation] ]
Key associates
* Robert Putnam - Became employed by Norris just after graduation from
BYU in 1983. Has held various influential director or officer positions in 3 of Norris' public companies -American Technology Corporation , Norris Communications/nowe.Digital Corporation andPatriot Scientific Corporation . Putnam now serves as a Senior VP and head ofinvestor relations for bothAmerican Technology Corporation ande.Digital Corporation .
* Helmult Falk (Sr.) - The sole owner of privately held Nanotronics Corporation, which was sold toPatriot Scientific Corporation . He became President and CEO of Patriot and served as such until his untimely death from cancer. Patent rights to a microprocessor technology owned by Nanotronics were later recognized as the primary asset of Patriot Scientific. Licensing of these patent rights has become the sole income for Patriot Scientific.* Alfred H. "Fred" Falk - Began his career in 1978 working for one of Helmut Falk's earlier start-ups, DH Technology, and stayed until its sale in 1988. From 1988 - 1995 he worked at Personal Computer Products, Inc. and Resources Internationale. He joined
e.Digital (Norris Communications) in 1995 as VP of Corporate Development. He was appointed President and Director of Norris/e.Digital in January 1997 and CEO in July 1998. On July 1, 2004 Fred Falk stepped down as e.Digital’s President and CEO to serve again as VP of Corporate Development. Falk took courses at two Californiacommunity college s -Palomar College in San Marcos andFoothill College in Los Altos, but did not achieve acollege degree .* James "Jim" Barnes - Co-founder of
Airscooter Corporation and associate of Woody Norris on other public and private ventures according to public records. Barnes was a founding investor in bothe.Digital Corporation andAmerican Technology Corporation .*
Jerry E. Polis - Founder, Chairman, CEO and majority shareholder ofASI Technology Corporation , and associate of Woody Norris on other public and private ventures according to public records. Polis is a greater than 5% shareholder ofAirScooter Corporation ande.Digital Corporation . He also controls all current debt instruments of e.Digital through fully owned Davric Corporation and fully controlledASI Technology Corporation .References
External links
* [http://www.woodynorris.com Woody Norris personal website]
*
* [http://web.mit.edu/invent/videos/norris.html 2005 Video Clip of Woody Norris]
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