Valerie thomas biography illusion transmitter

American data scientist and inventor

For the physicist and environmental engineer, see Valerie M. Thomas. For the French politician, see Valérie Thomas. For the American Africanist, see Valorie Thomas.

Valerie L. Thomas (born February 8, 1943) is an American data scientist and inventor. She invented the illusion transmitter, for which she received a patent in 1980.^[2] She was responsible for developing the digital media formats that image processing systems used in the early years of NASA's Landsat program.^[3]

Early life and education

Thomas was born in Baltimore, Maryland.^[4] She graduated from high school in 1961, during the era of integration.^[5] She attended Morgan State University, where she was one of two women majoring in physics.^[6] Thomas excelled in her mathematics and science courses at Morgan State University, graduating with a degree in physics with highest honors in 1964.^[5]

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Valerie L. Thomas

(1943-)

Who Is Valerie L. Thomas?

Valerie Thomas' interest in math and science were not encouraged until her college years. After graduating with a degree in physics, Thomas accepted a position at NASA. She remained there until her retirement in 1995. During that time, Thomas received a patent for an illusion transmitter and contributed broadly to the organization's research efforts.

Early Life and Career

Thomas was born in February 1943 in Maryland. Fascinated by technology from a ung age, Thomas was not encouraged to explore science. At a young age, she checked a book called The Boy's First Book On Electronics out of the library. Her father did not work on any of the projects with his daughter, despite his own interest in electronics.

After graduating from high school, Thomas finally got a chance to explore her interests as a student at Morgan State University. She was one of only two women at Morgan to major in physics. Thomas excelled in her studi

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Valerie Thomas

Did you ever think of what it might be like if your television could planerat arbete the on-screen image directly into your living room as a 3-Dimensional image? Maybe not, but if it happens, you'll have African-American inventor Valerie Thomas to thank for it.

From 1964 to 1995, Thomas worked in a variety of capacities for NASA where she developed real-time computer data systems, conducted large-scale experiments and managed various operations, projects and facilities. While managing a project for NASA's image processing systems, Thomas' team spearheaded the development of "Landsat," the first satellite to send images from space.

In 1976, Thomas learned how concave mirrors can be set up to create the illusion of a 3-dimensional object. She believed this would be revolutionary if technology could be harnessed to transmit this illusion. With an eye to the future, Valerie Thomas began experimenting on an illusion transmitter in 1977. In 1980, she patented it. In operation, c