The Accidental Inventor: An Interview with Hal Philipp
Starting this month, ID The Future listeners will get to enjoy a new episode each month (as well as a bingecast archive episode) from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast brings you interviews and insight from computer scientists, engineers, inventors, neurosurgeons, and other experts who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence, going beyond the hype to explore the undercurrents of these important ideas. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design.
On this episode of Mind Matters News, host Robert J. Marks is joined by Bradley Norris as they welcome Hal Philipp, the man behind the modern touchscreen and a prolific inventor with an impressive 98 U.S. patents. Hal shares his story and some of the lessons he’s learned over a career in invention. Hal tells the story of earning his very first patent, a radar for fiber optics that shoots out light pulses to spot problems like breaks or weak signals. Hal goes on to tell the story of his other major inventions, including an optical sensor system for football recruiters and a photon bridge sensor that would improve automatic sliding doors and automatic faucets. Hal mentions his groundbreaking capacitive sensor technology and the “accidental” creation of his company to meet overwhelming demand for the resulting low-cost microchip.
Hal then pivots to discussing how the sensor led to touchscreens as we know them today and what happened in their aftermath. He also discusses the hard lessons he learned through a difficult relationship with Apple, Inc. After licensing his capacitive sensor technology, the Cupertino tech giant left him in the lurch, and Hal learned that when you get a patent for something, it’s really just a license to sue when the idea gets stolen. He shares his remarkable David and Goliath story here.
Finally, Philipp covers some of the lessons he has learned over his career, with some questions from a live audience. He shares the ups and downs of being a solo inventor, including the “manic-depressive” nature of the process, the dangers of patent trolls and litigation, and the challenges of commercializing and licensing his inventions. He advises aspiring entrepreneurs to consider getting support from larger organizations or venture capital firms, as well as forming co-founder teams, to help mitigate the risks.
Dig Deeper
- Learn more about Hal Philipp at Michigan Tech.
- Watch this interview on YouTube: Stories and Startup Tips from Hal Philipp, Inventor of the Touch Screen
- Enjoy more episodes of Mind Matters News at mindmatters.ai!