Cassius Chapin Cutler

Cassius Chapin Cutler (December 16, 1914 – December 1, 2002), known as C. Chapin Cutler, was an American electrical engineer whose career at Bell Labs spanned more than four decades. His inventions in radio, radar, signal coding, imaging, and satellite communications earned him more than 80 patents. His most significant contributions include the invention of the Cutler feed antenna used on Allied bombers during World War II, differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM), and the corrugated-waveguide filter. He also played a key role in the development of the traveling wave tube and participated in Project Echo and the Telstar experiments, pioneering achievements in satellite communication.

Early life and education Cutler was born on December 16, 1914, in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Paul A. Cutler and Myra Chapin Cutler. He was raised in a small-town environment and educated in the public school systems of western Massachusetts.

Career

Early career at Bell Labs (1937–1945) Job opportunities were scarce in 1937 as the economy had not fully recovered from the Depression; Bell Labs was operating only four days a week to reduce costs. During his interview at Bell Labs' headquarters at 463 West Street in New York City, Cutler met Ralph Bown, a pioneer in military radio communication, who was impressed by Cutler's antenna experiments and attempts at carrier-depressed modulation. Although there were no openings in the New York research departments, Cutler was offered a position at the branch laboratory in Deal, New Jersey, where research focused on shortwave radio, high-power transmitter tubes, antenna designs, and ionospheric radio propagation. DPCM became the foundation for many subsequent coding schemes. Today, predictive coding derived from his work is used in digital television transmission, fax machines, and medical imaging systems.

The horn antenna at Holmdel constructed for Project Echo was later used by Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson for their 1964 discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, which earned them the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Management positions at Bell Labs Cutler was promoted to head of the Electronics Research Department in 1952, with responsibility for work on microwave electron tubes. He became assistant director of electronics research in 1959 and director of electronics systems research in 1963. From 1971 to 1978, he served as director of electronics and computer systems research. Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1982) IEEE Centennial Medal (1984) IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1991, with John O. Limb and Arun N. Netravali) – "For the invention and development of predictive coding of pictures and picture sequences"

He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1970 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1976. He was a Fellow of the IEEE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of Sigma Xi.

Personal life In the summer of 1934, while working as a chauffeur for a lawyer in Worcester, Cutler drove to Waterford, Maine, where he noticed two young women in bathing suits buying fish from a traveling fishmonger. He later met them at a party at the local community house, where he was particularly taken with Virginia Tyler, the pianist for the local orchestra. On September 27, 1941, Virginia Tyler and Chapin Cutler were married in Waterford, Maine, with about 100 people present including most of the village.

Cutler greatly enjoyed outdoor activities and was a Boy Scout leader who loved taking his children on adventures and teaching them survival skills. He hiked much of the Appalachian Trail with his childhood friend and climbed Mount Rainier with hiker Milt Boone. His most strenuous climb was to the summit of the Matterhorn with a Swiss team. He also took many adventurous hiking trips with Quate, including climbs of Mount Katahdin and Mount Banner in California, where they once had to sleep exposed on a slab of solid rock during a lightning storm.

Shortly after receiving the Alexander Graham Bell Medal in 1991, Cutler said in the WPI Journal: "I don't think I'm really that smart. I just think my imagination got turned on at an early age and that gave me tremendous motivation."

Cutler died on December 1, 2002, in North Reading, Massachusetts, at age 87. He was survived by his wife Virginia; son C. Chapin Cutler Jr.; daughter Virginia Raymond; and four grandchildren.

Selected publications