Otis Boykin

An ink drawing of Otis Boykin from a U.S. Department of Energy biographical sketch of 1979.

Otis Frank Boykin (August 29, 1920-1982) was an African-American inventor and engineer.^[1]

Otis Frank Boykin was born in 1920 in Dallas, Texas. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a carpenter. He worked as a laboratory assistant at the nearby University's aerospace laboratory. Otis attended Fisk University and Illinois Institute of Technology, but dropped out after two years because his parents could not afford his tuition.

Boykin, in his lifetime, ultimately invented more than 25 electronic devices. One of his early inventions was an improved electrical resistor for computers, radios, televisions and an assortment of other electronic devices. Other notable inventions include a variable resistor used in guided missiles and small component thick-film resistors for computers.^[2]

Boykin's most famous invention was likely a control unit for the artificial heart pacemaker. The device essentially uses electrical impulses to maintain a regular heartbeat. Boykin himself died of a heart failure in Chicago in 1982.

References

1. ^ Anonymous Black Contributors to Science and Energy Technology (Biographical sketch: Otis Boykin), U.S. Department Of Energy, Office of Public Affaris, U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1979, pp. 8-9, DOE/OPA-0035(79)
2. ^ http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/Otis_Boykin.htm Otis Boykin. By Mary Bellis, About.com Guide

External link

• Otis Boykin from the Black Inventors On-Line Museum

Persondata
Name	BOYKIN, OTIS
Alternative names
Short description	invinted the IBM computer
Date of birth	august 29,1920
Place of birth	Little Rock, AR
Date of death	1982
Place of death