Kees (Kornelis) Antonie Schouhamer Immink was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on December 18, 1946.
He received a Bachelor's degree from the Rotterdam Polytechnic (1967), a Masters degree in
electrical engineering (1974, cum laude) and a PhD (1985) from Eindhoven University of Technology.
From 1967-1998, he was with Philips Research Labs, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. In 1998, he
founded Turing Machines Inc, where he currently serves as its president. In addition to this he has been an adjunct
professor at Institute for Experimental Mathematics, University of Duisburg and Essen, Germany, since 1994 as well as affiliated
with the Data Storage Institute, Singapore,
as a Distinguished Visiting Professor since 1997.
Biography
For more than 30 years, Kees Schouhamer Immink has been in the very forefront of the research
of digital recording products. Many aspects of recording systems have gained from Immink's
creativity, including, notably, coding technology, electronics,
servo design and performance,
playing behavior, system control and protection. He has been instrumental in the design and
development of coding technologies of a wide variety of consumer-type video, audio,
and data recorders such as
He was a prominent member of the Philips/Sony experts group that was responsible for the design of the
Compact Disc standard, the
Red Book, in 1979-1980. He removed a major obstacle of a successful introduction
of the Compact Disc and other digital optical discs by inventing an efficient technique to
improve playing time and disc playability
EFM and
EFMPlus.
His techniques have found widespread application in
CD,
DVD, and
Blu-Ray Disc systems and all their offspring. His creative research resulted in around 1000 foreign patents.
Awards and honors
SMPTE Progress Medal awarded by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
(SMPTE), 2004, For the central role played in research and development of audio and video recording products.
IEEE Consumer Electronics Engineering Excellence Award, 2004.
Heyser Memorial lecturer awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, May 2004.
*
Technology and Engineering Emmy Award awarded by the National Television Academy
2003, For coding technology for optical recording formats.
Inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, (CEA), 2003.
Knighthood in the Order of Oranje-Nassau awarded by Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, 2000.
Honorary member, Netherlands Electronics and Radio Society (NERG), 2000.
Millennium Medal awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
(IEEE), 2000.
AES Gold Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, (AES), 1999,
For significant contributions to the advancement of consumer audio technology.
IEEE Edison Medal, 1999, For a career of creative
contributions to the technologies of digital video, audio, and data recording.
Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation awarded by the IEEE Information Theory Society, 1998, For the invention of constrained codes for commercial recording systems.
AES 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, 1998.
Academician, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, (KNAW) 1996.
Fellow, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE),1996.
Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award awarded by the IEEE, 1996,
For pioneering contributions to consumer digital audio and video recording products.
A.M. Poniatoff Gold Medal Award for Technical Excellence awarded by
the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, 1994, For outstanding contributions
to the development of new techniques and/or equipment that have
contributed to the advancement of audio or video magnetic recording and reproduction.
Sir J.J. Thomson Medal awarded by the Institution of Electrical Engineers, IEE
1993, For distinguished contributions to electronics.
AES Silver Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, 1992,
For major contributions to the development of digital audio recording systems.
References
- Codes for Mass Data Storage Systems, Second fully revised edition, Shannon Foundation Publishers, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Nov. 2004. ISBN 90-74249-27-2 *
- The Compact Disc Story, AES Journal, pp. 458-465, May 1998 *.
- The future of digital audio recording, AES Journal., pp. 171-172, 1999 *.
Electrical engineers
External links
Kees Schouhamer Immink
"Kees A. Schouhamer Immink"