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			Gerhard M. Sessler Born Feb 15 1931 Electroacoustic Transducer Electret Microphone Patent Number(s) 3,118,022 Inducted 1999 Gerhard Sessler and James West invented the foil electret microphone while working at Bell Laboratories. This device, which was finalized in 1962, combines high performance features, such as broad frequency range, low noise, and high sensitivity with low cost. Its commercial production began in 1968. Today, almost one billion electret microphones are manufactured annually. In the 1980s at the University of Darmstadt, Sessler developed the first condenser microphones based on silicon micromachining. Invention Impact This innovative technology allows for the fabrication of thousands of tiny microphones on a single silicon wafer. These can be used for hearing aids, hearing implants, and other applications. Inventor Bio Sessler was born in Rosenfeld, Germany and studied physics at the Universities of Freiburg, Munich, and Goettingen. After receiving his Ph.D. from Goettingen in 1959, Sessler moved to the United States to work at Bell Labs. He stayed at Bell Labs until 1975, when he returned to Germany to become professor of electroacoustics at the University of Darmstadt. Sessler, who holds over 100 U.S. and foreign patents and is an IEEE Fellow, is the recipient of many awards, including the George R. Stibitz Trophy and the Helmholtz Medal, the highest award of the German Acoustical Society.