John Kenneth Hilliard (1901, Wyndmere, North Dakota-1989) was an American acoustical engineer who pioneered a number of important loudspeaker concepts and designs. He helped develop the practical use of recording sound for film, designed movie theater sound systems and he worked on radar as well as marine detection equipment during World War II. Hilliard collaborated with James B. Lansing in creating the renowned Altec Voice of the Theatre speake...
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John Kenneth Hilliard (1901, Wyndmere, North Dakota-1989) was an American acoustical engineer who pioneered a number of important loudspeaker concepts and designs. He helped develop the practical use of recording sound for film, designed movie theater sound systems and he worked on radar as well as marine detection equipment during World War II. Hilliard collaborated with James B. Lansing in creating the renowned Altec Voice of the Theatre speaker system. Hilliard researched high-intensity acoustics, vibration, miniaturization and long-line communications for NASA and the Air Force.
Hilliard's wife Jessamine Hilliard was a published researcher in the fields of allergies, enzymes, hormones and radiology. In 1932, she introduced Hilliard to a young electrical engineer working at her laboratory, a doctoral graduate fresh out of Caltech: Dr. John "Blackie" Blackburn, a man Hilliard would continue to associate and collaborate with in many technical endeavors.
Born in 1901 in Wyndmere,...
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