Dr. John F. Waymouth

Biography
John Francis Waymouth was born on May 24, 1926. His higher education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in 1947 from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics, in 1950, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After receiving his Ph.D. degree Waymouth immediately joined the Lighting Division Laboratories of Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. He remained in this organization for the balance of his working career, although he experienced numerous changes in corporate identity. It is most recently the research laboratories of the Osram-Sylvania Lighting Corporation.

His early career was spent as an individual investigator studying the physics and chemistry of electric discharge lamps. In the course of this work, he developed (in collaboration with Professor Francis Bitter of MIT) one of the first complete models of the rare-gas/mercury discharge used in fluorescent lamps. He made significant contributions to the theory and technique of Langmuir Probe measurements of plasma parameters, and in developing an understanding of cathode behavior in discharge lamps. He also made major contributions to the development of metal halide arc lamps, and holds many important patents on these devices. During the years 1950-1969 Waymouth served as individual contributor and in first-level supervisory positions.

In 1969 Waymouth was promoted to be Director of Research and Development for the GTE Sylvania Lighting Products Group, a position he held until his retirement in 1988.

As will be detailed below, John Waymouth is the author of 30 refereed articles, 8 invited review articles, and one book. The book, Electric Discharge Lamps, which is used as a reference volume throughout the world, has been translated into German, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese. John Waymouth holds 59 issued U.S. patents.

As a physicist working in industry closely-coupled to development and manufacturing of complex plasma products, Waymouth's career was devoted to bringing science to bear on the previously empirical process of discharge lamp development: appropriating it from outside where it was available, carrying out himself or directing the necessary research where it was not. The second half of his career, in management of Research, Developmen & Engineering, was spent at the other major interface of technology: translating to corporate management the technological barriers, opportunities, and successes, to accelerate the introduction of new technology to the marketplace and to wedge it to the bottom line. A final major aspect of his role as Director of RD&E was in education and training of laboratory staff in the scientific fundamentals of gaseous electronics and plasma physics applicable to discharge lamps.

The value of above-average intelligence and a higher education in making advances in the fundamental understanding of lamp processes, as well as improvements in lamp design, can be seen in an example of the fluorescent lamp. In 1956 the General Electric Company introduced the Power Groove™ lamp⁴. It was a lamp design based on early work by Gene Lemmers and John Aicher in which the earlier restrictions of lamp output were exceeded. The Power Groove™ lamp was a high lumen output lamp that was achieved by pressing indentations into the envelope along its length. It was a successful lamp but somewhat expensive to manufacture.

At about the same time, in the Sylvania laboratories, John Waymouth unveiled the limiting factors of higher light output from a lamp. In Waymouth's own words⁵:

"This epiphany led to a hasty fabrication of several lamps and the collection of experimental data that confirmed my idea. Within a day or two, I could demonstrate to Sylvania's powers-that-be a lamp filled with neon instead of argon that could deliver four times the light output of the standard lamp at five times the power input. Because the standard lamp was incapable of delivering more than 2.5 times the output at any power, I felt that physics had led the way to a significant accomplishment.

However, there was certainly more to do. Waymouth continued:

"...a number of engineering problems had to be solved: the design of electrodes for a discharge current of 2.5 A instead of 0.4 A; the invention of a novel method to prevent mercury pressure from rising too high despite a high tube-wall temperature; the provision of a 'cold spot' at the end of the lamp by providing a radiatively shielded space behind the electrode...
"Electrode design required a number of iterations, each of which had to be fabricated and tested. And the larger electrodes required processing changes that had to be worked out in the lab..."

The end result of these efforts was the introduction by Sylvania of a high output lamp, named the VHO™ (very high output) (ref. 2, p.37), which didn't require indentations on the envelope. John Waymouth was the mastermind behind that development.

Dr. John F. Waymouth, now retired from GTE-Sylvania, is presently active as a consultant in the area of discharge lamps. He resides at 16 Bennett Road, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 01945.

Prizes and Awards
John Waymouth received well-deserved honors during his working career. He was the recipient of the following:

1973 Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken - Dr. W. Elenbaas Award
for outstanding contributions to the furtherance of knowledge in the area of light sources. This award is granted every four years.
1991 IESNA Medal
The medal requirements read: "The IESNA MEDAL shall be awarded for the purpose of giving recognition to meritorious technical achievement that has conspicuously furthered the profession, art or knowledge of illuminating engineering. Accomplishments shall be in the field of engineering, design, applied illumination, optics, ophthalmology, lighting research or education."
2000 Will Allis Prize
The citation read: "For his important contributions to the quantitative understanding and development of gas discharge light sources and for his leadership at the interface between the basic science and the industrial applications of plasmas."

Public Service
1) Evaluation Panel, Heat Division, National Bureau of Standards, 1972-1975.
2) Technical Electronic Product Radiation Safety Standards Committee, Bureau of Radiological Health, (FDA) 1977-79.
3) Advisory Committee for Physics, National Science Foundation, 1981-83.
4) Service as member of Executive Committees, Gaseous Electronics Conference, Physical Electronics Conference; and, International Symposia on the Science and Technology of Light Sources.

Acknowledgements
The writer expresses his gratitude to Dr. Waymouth for providing a copy of his curriculum vitae and for allowing the write-up to be posted on this website. The photograph of Dr. Waymouth was taken from the write-up on an American Physical Society website⁶. Use of it is very much appreciated.