MOTOROLA Cooper

Dr. Martin Cooper AKA MOTOROLA COOPER

HE was born December 26, 1928 in Chicago. He is considered the inventor of the cell phone. Dr. Cooper is the CEO and founder of ArrayComm, a company that works on smart antenna technology and improving wireless networks. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.

A pioneer in the wireless communications industry, Martin Cooper conceived the first portable cellular phone in 1973 and led the 10-year process of bringing it to market. Cooper knew then that people needed the freedom that comes from anywhere, anytime telephony, in contrast to being tethered to a desk or a car. It is this same central focuson consumer freedom that drives Cooper’s vision of the wireless Internet.

Dr. Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone in April 1973, to the bewilderment of the passer-byers in a road of New York. During 29 years with Motorola, Cooper built and managed both its paging and cellular businesses and served as Corporate Director of Research and Development. Products introduced by Cooper have had cumulative sales volume of more than $80 billion.
The first call he made was to his rival, Joel Engel, Bell Labs head of research.Cooper later revealed that watching Captain Kirk talk in his communicator on the tv-show Star Trek inspired him to research the mobile phone.

Upon leaving Motorola, Cooper co-founded Cellular Business Systems, Inc. and led it todominate the cellular billing industry with a 75 percent market share before selling it toCincinnati Bell. Cooper has been granted eight patents in the communications field andhas been widely published on various aspects of communications technology and onmanagement of research and development.

Under Cooper's leadership since its founding in 1992, ArrayComm, Inc. has grown from a seed-funded startup in San Jose, Calif., into the world leader in smart antenna technology. Today, ArrayComm is using its technology expertise, including 250 patents issued or pending, to develop and deploy the i-BURST mobile broadband wireless Internet access system. The i-BURST system offers a revolutionary Internet experience, combining the freedom of mobility with transmission speeds similar to a typical home broadband DSL line, all at prices competitive with today’s wireline connections.

Cooper received the American Computer Museum’s George R. Stibitz Computer & communications Pioneer Award in 2002.
He was an inaugural member of RCR's Wireless Hall of Fame.
Red Herring magazine named him one of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs of 2000.
Wireless Systems Design provided him with the 2002 Industry Leader award.
In 2003, Cooper received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award for his technological innovations in the communication field.

Past experience in the wireless field included working with Motorola to develop the first police radios