James Fergason, Wolfgang Helfrich, Martin Schadt

James Fergason, Wolfgang Helfrich, and Martin Schadt each contributed greatly to the development of twisted-nematic liquid crystal technology. The technology is the display of choice for laptop computers, mobile phones, television sets and hundreds of industrial and consumer products.

Working separately, Helfrich and Fergason conducted fundamental research that contributed to the establishment of twisted-nematic technology, with Helfrich and Schadt later collaborating
on the development of a twisted-nematic cell, which led to the first liquid crystal display components. Twisted-nematic mode enabled the development of a practical flat panel display
for a wide range of applications and is considered one of the most important technological achievements of the 20th century.

Dr. Helfrich is a professor at the Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Freie Universitaet in Berlin, Germany. He worked for the Canadian National Research Council, lectured at the Technical University in Munich, Germany and was a researcher at both the David Sarnoff Research Center in New Jersey and Hoffmann-La Roche in Switzerland. Dr. Helfrich has published more than 20 papers in the liquid crystal field and has received numerous awards, among them the Hewlett-Packard EPS Europhysics Prize. He holds a doctorate from the Technical University in Munich, Germany.

Dr. Schadt is the managing director at MS High-Tech Consulting. He worked for the Canadian National Research Council, is a former director, chief technology officer and CEO of Rolic, Ltd.,
and was the head of the Roche Liquid Crystals research department. He has published 167 scientific papers, co-authored four books and holds 116 patents, and previously received the Roche Research and Development Prize and Karl Ferdinand Braun Prize of the American Society for Information Display (SID); highest recognition Award of SID. Dr. Schadt received his doctorate from the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Dr. Fergason is the founder and member of Fergason Patent Properties, LLC. Previously, he founded and was president of both the International Liquid Crystal Company and Optical
Shields. Fergason has published more than 40 papers and holds 120 U.S. patents in the field of liquid crystal displays and related devices. Dr. Fergason has received numerous honors including
the Lemmelson-MIT prize, Francis Darnes award of SID and is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He holds a bachelors and an honorary degree from the University of Missouri.