Mr. Jim Hall

A design engineer, he grew up on a farm near Halifax, Virginia. Listening to the shortwave bands, he discovered ham radio and earned his ham license (W4TVI) at age 14. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State in 1959 and went to work for General Electric Communication Products Division in Lynchburg, Virginia. At GE he was a design engineer for their first and several follow-on solid state point-to-point microwave systems. In 1971 he received an MS in Physics from Lynchburg College. As a GE design engineer, he was greatly impressed by the innovation and quality inherent in HP test instruments. In 1972 he received a job offer from HP Microwave Division in Palo Alto and jumped at the chance. At HP, his first project was a thin film 2.6 GHz receiver for NASA's ATS-F experimental satellite TV system. He then managed the HP 8660C Microwave Synthesizer project and investigated Digital Vector Signal Generator technology. In 1976 he accepted an offer to move to HP Boise Division (Idaho) and manage development of HP's first laser printer, the 2680A. He remained responsible for all laser/LaserJet Research & Development up until 1989. At that point, the number of LaserJet projects became so large that high performance LaserJets were spun out into a new division (Network Printer Division) and the remaining Boise Division projects split into two groups (Mid-Range and Personal) where he retained responsibility for Personal LaserJet R&D. A new division focused on Color LaserJet printers was formed 1995 and he became R&D Lab Manager for that group. Then in 1997 he became R&D Manager for all LaserJet printers, holding that position until he retired in 2000.