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Roger Douglas Melen (born 1946)〔 〕〔 is an electrical engineer recognized for his early contributions to the microcomputer industry, and for his technical innovations. Dr. Melen was co-founder of Cromemco, one of the earliest microcomputer companies. At Cromemco he developed color graphics systems that were widely used in television broadcast, and in mission planning systems deployed by the United States Air Force. He also developed the first microcomputer systems widely distributed in China. In addition to his work in microcomputer systems and color graphics, Dr. Melen has made significant technical contributions to the development of CCD image sensors, ultrasonic imaging systems, implantable cochlear devices, image processing technology, and vehicular information systems. He has been recognized as one of the most important inventors and innovators in the history of Silicon Valley. ==Early contributions== As a young man, Roger Melen enjoyed ham radio, operating an amateur radio station from his home in Chico, California under the call sign WB6JXU. He attended Chico State College where he received the BSEE degree in 1968. His first published invention, an audio filter he called the "Beatnote Basher," appeared in the amateur radio publication ''73 Magazine'' in 1969. Melen attended graduate school at Stanford University, and there he continued to design projects for the electronic hobbyist, collaborating with a fellow graduate student, Harry Garland, on a series of inventions published as construction projects in ''Popular Electronics'' magazine. He received the MSEE degree from Stanford in 1969, and the Ph.D. degree in 1973. Dr. Melen was invited to join the research staff of the Stanford Integrated Circuits Laboratory in 1972, and was named Associate Director of the laboratory in 1974. Recognizing that charge-coupled device (CCD) technology had greater potential than MOS technology in delivering "full video quality imaging" for solid-state image sensors〔 〕 he worked on the development of CCD image sensors for application to the Optacon reading machine for the blind. He also applied CCD technology to medical ultrasonic imaging systems, and worked on the development of an implantable cochlear device for the profoundly deaf. He also continued to write for ''Popular Electronics'' magazine, which resulted in a meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico that would change the course of his career. In 1974 he submitted a design for a digital camera, called the “Cyclops”, to ''Popular Electronics''. While visiting the editorial office of ''Popular Electronics'' in New York to discuss the Cyclops, Melen saw a prototype of the MITS Altair Computer that was also being readied for publication. Recognizing the potential of interfacing the Cyclops digital camera to the Altair, Melen changed his return flight to California to go through Albuquerque to visit Ed Roberts, president of MITS. Roberts was anxious to develop third-party support for the Altair, and encouraged Melen to interface the Cyclops digital camera to the Altair computer. Roberts agreed to ship an Altair computer to Melen so that he could get to work on the interface. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roger Melen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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