Robert Schwall

Robert E. Schwall (M'91–SM'98) received the B.S. degree in physics from St. Mary's University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA, in 1968, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, in 1969 and 1972, respectively. From 1984 to 1993, he was with IBM, where he developed and patented a quench protection system for superconducting MRI magnets, which was utilized worldwide for over 20 years. At the IBM T.J. Watson Research Lab, he served as a Manager of the Optical Systems group and also led a project addressing the packaging and cooling of complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor circuits operating at cryogenic temperatures. From 1993 to 2003, he held a number of positions at American Superconductor Corporation, Westborough, MA, USA, where he was the Vice President of Engineering, leading the development of the high-temperature superconductors BSCCO and thin-film YBCO. He is currently with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA, working on programs in voltage standards, ultralow-field MRI, and cryogen-free systems incorporating superconducting sensors. He has authored over 70 publications. He is the holder of nine patents in the field of superconductivity. Dr. Schwall is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a Senior Member of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity.