Mary Lou Jepsen
Encyclopedia
Mary Lou Jepsen is founder and CEO of Pixel Qi
, a manufacturer of low-cost, low-power LCD screens for laptops. She was the first chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
, HDTV and projector products. Her PhD work combined rigorous theoretical coupled-wave analysis with lab work, in which she created large-scale, embossed surface-relief diffraction gratings with liquid crystal-filled grooves with high diffraction efficiency in un-polarized illumination.
Jepsen has created some of the largest ambient displays ever. In Cologne, Germany she built a holographic
replica of pre-existing buildings in the city's historic district...and created a holographic display encompassing a city block. She also conceived, built mathematical models of, resolved the fundamental engineering issues, and solved some of the logistics - to create what would have been the largest display ever for mankind: images displayed on the darkened moon. She co-created the first holographic video system in the world at the MIT Media Lab
in 1989, where the interference structure of the hologram was computed at video rates, and shown on her hand-made display. This system inspired a new subfield of holographic video and received numerous awards.
to lead the design, partnering, development and manufacture of the laptop, and for the entire first year of the effort was the only employee of One Laptop per Child [OLPC].
By the end of 2005, she had completed the initial architecture, led the development of the first prototype (which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
unveiled at a UN summit), and signed up some of the world's largest manufacturers to produce the XO-1
. By the end of 2007 she had led the laptop through development and into high volume mass production.
At OLPC, notably, Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into high volume mass production rapidly. The XO laptop is the lowest-power laptop ever made, and the most environmentally friendly laptop ever made. The laptop can sustain 5 foot drops, is mesh networked extending the reach of the network by letting signals hop from laptop to laptop.
Mary Lou Jepsen (born 1965) is founder and CEO of Pixel Qi
, a manufacturer of low-cost, low-power LCD screens for laptops. She was the first chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
, HDTV and projector products. Her PhD work combined rigorous theoretical coupled-wave analysis with lab work, in which she created large-scale, embossed surface-relief diffraction gratings with liquid crystal-filled grooves with high diffraction efficiency in un-polarized illumination.
Jepsen has created some of the largest ambient displays ever. In Cologne, Germany she built a holographic
replica of pre-existing buildings in the city's historic district...and created a holographic display encompassing a city block.Paula Dawson and Mary Lou Jepsen: Optical Transfer Of Master Hologram With 20 Meter Depth She also conceived, built mathematical models of, resolved the fundamental engineering issues, and solved some of the logistics - to create what would have been the largest display ever for mankind: images displayed on the darkened moon. She co-created the first holographic video system in the world at the MIT Media Lab
in 1989, where the interference structure of the hologram was computed at video rates, and shown on her hand-made display. This system inspired a new subfield of holographic video and received numerous awards.
to lead the design, partnering, development and manufacture of the laptop, and for the entire first year of the effort was the only employee of One Laptop per Child [OLPC].
By the end of 2005, she had completed the initial architecture, led the development of the first prototype (which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
unveiled at a UN summit), and signed up some of the world's largest manufacturers to produce the XO-1
. By the end of 2007 she had led the laptop through development and into high volume mass production.
At OLPC, notably, Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into high volume mass production rapidly. The XO laptop is the lowest-power laptop ever made, and the most environmentally friendly laptop ever made. The laptop can sustain 5 foot drops, is mesh networked extending the reach of the network by letting signals hop from laptop to laptop.ACM Queue: A Conversation with Mary Lou JepsenPixel Qi "About Us" page, accessed October 5, 2008An excellent interview about de XO Design and technical choicesNPR piece on Hundred-dollar laptop in early 20068 minute interview with Jepsen at WSIS, Tunis, November 20056 minute video with Jepsen describing green features of the XO Laptop, 1 February 2008Interview by Sara Forrest for Computerworld Magazine 2009Mary Lou Jepsen acceptance speech for Anita Borg Women of Vision Award
Mary Lou Jepsen (born 1965) is founder and CEO of Pixel Qi
, a manufacturer of low-cost, low-power LCD screens for laptops. She was the first chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
, HDTV and projector products. Her PhD work combined rigorous theoretical coupled-wave analysis with lab work, in which she created large-scale, embossed surface-relief diffraction gratings with liquid crystal-filled grooves with high diffraction efficiency in un-polarized illumination.
Jepsen has created some of the largest ambient displays ever. In Cologne, Germany she built a holographic
replica of pre-existing buildings in the city's historic district...and created a holographic display encompassing a city block.Paula Dawson and Mary Lou Jepsen: Optical Transfer Of Master Hologram With 20 Meter Depth She also conceived, built mathematical models of, resolved the fundamental engineering issues, and solved some of the logistics - to create what would have been the largest display ever for mankind: images displayed on the darkened moon. She co-created the first holographic video system in the world at the MIT Media Lab
in 1989, where the interference structure of the hologram was computed at video rates, and shown on her hand-made display. This system inspired a new subfield of holographic video and received numerous awards.
to lead the design, partnering, development and manufacture of the laptop, and for the entire first year of the effort was the only employee of One Laptop per Child [OLPC].
By the end of 2005, she had completed the initial architecture, led the development of the first prototype (which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
unveiled at a UN summit), and signed up some of the world's largest manufacturers to produce the XO-1
. By the end of 2007 she had led the laptop through development and into high volume mass production.
At OLPC, notably, Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into high volume mass production rapidly. The XO laptop is the lowest-power laptop ever made, and the most environmentally friendly laptop ever made. The laptop can sustain 5 foot drops, is mesh networked extending the reach of the network by letting signals hop from laptop to laptop.ACM Queue: A Conversation with Mary Lou JepsenPixel Qi "About Us" page, accessed October 5, 2008An excellent interview about de XO Design and technical choicesNPR piece on Hundred-dollar laptop in early 20068 minute interview with Jepsen at WSIS, Tunis, November 20056 minute video with Jepsen describing green features of the XO Laptop, 1 February 2008Interview by Sara Forrest for Computerworld Magazine 2009Mary Lou Jepsen acceptance speech for Anita Borg Women of Vision AwardGroklaw interview with Mary Lou JepsenNewsweek story on JepsenIEEE Today's Engineer 8/06 article written by Jepsen describing working at OLPCNew York Times article on OLPC laptop featuring Jepsen's contributions
OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen quits nonprofit effort Pixel Qi's business is based on the concept that the screen is the most critical component of a portable.Pixel Qi eyes Taiwan
Jepsen has won the Edwin Land Medal for 2011 from the Optical Society.Edwin H. Land Medal She has been named to numerous "top" lists in computing by Fast Company and Laptop Magazine and IEEE Spectrum and others. She is the "foursquare" mayor of Carnegie's Restaurant and Bar in Taipei, Taiwan. Quoted as saying "I honestly come here just for the food". Mary Lou J.
. In 1995, she suffered from a pituitary gland
tumor and had it removed and thus suffers from panhypopituitarism, requiring a twice-daily regimen of hormone replacement.Mary Lou Jepsen - Inspiring, Feb. 12, 2007
Pixel Qi
Pixel Qi Corporation is an American company involved in the research of low-power computer display technology, based in San Bruno, California. It was founded by Mary Lou Jepsen, who was previously the chief technical officer of the One Laptop per Child project.The company designs liquid crystal...
, a manufacturer of low-cost, low-power LCD screens for laptops. She was the first chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
Early life and education
Jepsen studied Studio Art and Electrical Engineering at Brown. She received a Master of Science in Holography from the MIT Media Lab, and then returned to Brown to receive a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences. Her contributions have had worldwide adoption in head-mounted displayHead-mounted display
A head-mounted display or helmet mounted display, both abbreviated HMD, is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet, that has a small display optic in front of one or each eye .- Overview :...
, HDTV and projector products. Her PhD work combined rigorous theoretical coupled-wave analysis with lab work, in which she created large-scale, embossed surface-relief diffraction gratings with liquid crystal-filled grooves with high diffraction efficiency in un-polarized illumination.
Jepsen has created some of the largest ambient displays ever. In Cologne, Germany she built a holographic
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
replica of pre-existing buildings in the city's historic district...and created a holographic display encompassing a city block. She also conceived, built mathematical models of, resolved the fundamental engineering issues, and solved some of the logistics - to create what would have been the largest display ever for mankind: images displayed on the darkened moon. She co-created the first holographic video system in the world at the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
in 1989, where the interference structure of the hologram was computed at video rates, and shown on her hand-made display. This system inspired a new subfield of holographic video and received numerous awards.
Microdisplay Corp
Jepsen helped pioneer single-panel field sequential projection display systems, co-founding Microdisplay, the first company whose sole effort was the development of tiny displays, in 1995. There she served as its chief technology officer through 2003.Intel
From 2003 until the end of the 2004, she was the chief technology officer of Intel’s Display Division.OLPC
In January 2005, Jepsen joined Nicholas NegroponteNicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
to lead the design, partnering, development and manufacture of the laptop, and for the entire first year of the effort was the only employee of One Laptop per Child [OLPC].
By the end of 2005, she had completed the initial architecture, led the development of the first prototype (which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
unveiled at a UN summit), and signed up some of the world's largest manufacturers to produce the XO-1
OLPC XO-1
The XO-1, previously known as the $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, and 2B1, is an inexpensive subnotebook computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to "explore, experiment and express...
. By the end of 2007 she had led the laptop through development and into high volume mass production.
At OLPC, notably, Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into high volume mass production rapidly. The XO laptop is the lowest-power laptop ever made, and the most environmentally friendly laptop ever made. The laptop can sustain 5 foot drops, is mesh networked extending the reach of the network by letting signals hop from laptop to laptop.
Mary Lou Jepsen (born 1965) is founder and CEO of Pixel Qi
Pixel Qi
Pixel Qi Corporation is an American company involved in the research of low-power computer display technology, based in San Bruno, California. It was founded by Mary Lou Jepsen, who was previously the chief technical officer of the One Laptop per Child project.The company designs liquid crystal...
, a manufacturer of low-cost, low-power LCD screens for laptops. She was the first chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
Early life and education
Jepsen studied Studio Art and Electrical Engineering at Brown. She received a Master of Science in Holography from the MIT Media Lab, and then returned to Brown to receive a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences. Her contributions have had worldwide adoption in head-mounted displayHead-mounted display
A head-mounted display or helmet mounted display, both abbreviated HMD, is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet, that has a small display optic in front of one or each eye .- Overview :...
, HDTV and projector products. Her PhD work combined rigorous theoretical coupled-wave analysis with lab work, in which she created large-scale, embossed surface-relief diffraction gratings with liquid crystal-filled grooves with high diffraction efficiency in un-polarized illumination.
Jepsen has created some of the largest ambient displays ever. In Cologne, Germany she built a holographic
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
replica of pre-existing buildings in the city's historic district...and created a holographic display encompassing a city block.Paula Dawson and Mary Lou Jepsen: Optical Transfer Of Master Hologram With 20 Meter Depth She also conceived, built mathematical models of, resolved the fundamental engineering issues, and solved some of the logistics - to create what would have been the largest display ever for mankind: images displayed on the darkened moon. She co-created the first holographic video system in the world at the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
in 1989, where the interference structure of the hologram was computed at video rates, and shown on her hand-made display. This system inspired a new subfield of holographic video and received numerous awards.
Microdisplay Corp
Jepsen helped pioneer single-panel field sequential projection display systems, co-founding Microdisplay, the first company whose sole effort was the development of tiny displays, in 1995. There she served as its chief technology officer through 2003.Intel
From 2003 until the end of the 2004, she was the chief technology officer of Intel’s Display Division.OLPC
In January 2005, Jepsen joined Nicholas NegroponteNicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
to lead the design, partnering, development and manufacture of the laptop, and for the entire first year of the effort was the only employee of One Laptop per Child [OLPC].
By the end of 2005, she had completed the initial architecture, led the development of the first prototype (which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
unveiled at a UN summit), and signed up some of the world's largest manufacturers to produce the XO-1
OLPC XO-1
The XO-1, previously known as the $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, and 2B1, is an inexpensive subnotebook computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to "explore, experiment and express...
. By the end of 2007 she had led the laptop through development and into high volume mass production.
At OLPC, notably, Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into high volume mass production rapidly. The XO laptop is the lowest-power laptop ever made, and the most environmentally friendly laptop ever made. The laptop can sustain 5 foot drops, is mesh networked extending the reach of the network by letting signals hop from laptop to laptop.ACM Queue: A Conversation with Mary Lou JepsenPixel Qi "About Us" page, accessed October 5, 2008An excellent interview about de XO Design and technical choicesNPR piece on Hundred-dollar laptop in early 20068 minute interview with Jepsen at WSIS, Tunis, November 20056 minute video with Jepsen describing green features of the XO Laptop, 1 February 2008Interview by Sara Forrest for Computerworld Magazine 2009Mary Lou Jepsen acceptance speech for Anita Borg Women of Vision Award
Mary Lou Jepsen (born 1965) is founder and CEO of Pixel Qi
Pixel Qi
Pixel Qi Corporation is an American company involved in the research of low-power computer display technology, based in San Bruno, California. It was founded by Mary Lou Jepsen, who was previously the chief technical officer of the One Laptop per Child project.The company designs liquid crystal...
, a manufacturer of low-cost, low-power LCD screens for laptops. She was the first chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child (OLPC).
Early life and education
Jepsen studied Studio Art and Electrical Engineering at Brown. She received a Master of Science in Holography from the MIT Media Lab, and then returned to Brown to receive a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences. Her contributions have had worldwide adoption in head-mounted displayHead-mounted display
A head-mounted display or helmet mounted display, both abbreviated HMD, is a display device, worn on the head or as part of a helmet, that has a small display optic in front of one or each eye .- Overview :...
, HDTV and projector products. Her PhD work combined rigorous theoretical coupled-wave analysis with lab work, in which she created large-scale, embossed surface-relief diffraction gratings with liquid crystal-filled grooves with high diffraction efficiency in un-polarized illumination.
Jepsen has created some of the largest ambient displays ever. In Cologne, Germany she built a holographic
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
replica of pre-existing buildings in the city's historic district...and created a holographic display encompassing a city block.Paula Dawson and Mary Lou Jepsen: Optical Transfer Of Master Hologram With 20 Meter Depth She also conceived, built mathematical models of, resolved the fundamental engineering issues, and solved some of the logistics - to create what would have been the largest display ever for mankind: images displayed on the darkened moon. She co-created the first holographic video system in the world at the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
in 1989, where the interference structure of the hologram was computed at video rates, and shown on her hand-made display. This system inspired a new subfield of holographic video and received numerous awards.
Microdisplay Corp
Jepsen helped pioneer single-panel field sequential projection display systems, co-founding Microdisplay, the first company whose sole effort was the development of tiny displays, in 1995. There she served as its chief technology officer through 2003.Intel
From 2003 until the end of the 2004, she was the chief technology officer of Intel’s Display Division.OLPC
In January 2005, Jepsen joined Nicholas NegroponteNicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
to lead the design, partnering, development and manufacture of the laptop, and for the entire first year of the effort was the only employee of One Laptop per Child [OLPC].
By the end of 2005, she had completed the initial architecture, led the development of the first prototype (which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
unveiled at a UN summit), and signed up some of the world's largest manufacturers to produce the XO-1
OLPC XO-1
The XO-1, previously known as the $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, and 2B1, is an inexpensive subnotebook computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to "explore, experiment and express...
. By the end of 2007 she had led the laptop through development and into high volume mass production.
At OLPC, notably, Jepsen invented the laptop's sunlight-readable display technology and co-invented its ultra-low power management system - and - has transformed these inventions into high volume mass production rapidly. The XO laptop is the lowest-power laptop ever made, and the most environmentally friendly laptop ever made. The laptop can sustain 5 foot drops, is mesh networked extending the reach of the network by letting signals hop from laptop to laptop.ACM Queue: A Conversation with Mary Lou JepsenPixel Qi "About Us" page, accessed October 5, 2008An excellent interview about de XO Design and technical choicesNPR piece on Hundred-dollar laptop in early 20068 minute interview with Jepsen at WSIS, Tunis, November 20056 minute video with Jepsen describing green features of the XO Laptop, 1 February 2008Interview by Sara Forrest for Computerworld Magazine 2009Mary Lou Jepsen acceptance speech for Anita Borg Women of Vision AwardGroklaw interview with Mary Lou JepsenNewsweek story on JepsenIEEE Today's Engineer 8/06 article written by Jepsen describing working at OLPCNew York Times article on OLPC laptop featuring Jepsen's contributions
Pixel Qi
After 3 years with OLPC, In early 2008 she left OLPC to start a for-profit company, Pixel Qi, to commercialize some of the technologies she invented at OLPC.OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen quits nonprofit effort Pixel Qi's business is based on the concept that the screen is the most critical component of a portable.Pixel Qi eyes Taiwan
Awards
For her work in creating the laptop Time Magazine named her to its 2008 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.Mary Lou Jepsen - The 2008 TIME 100 - TIMEJepsen has won the Edwin Land Medal for 2011 from the Optical Society.Edwin H. Land Medal She has been named to numerous "top" lists in computing by Fast Company and Laptop Magazine and IEEE Spectrum and others. She is the "foursquare" mayor of Carnegie's Restaurant and Bar in Taipei, Taiwan. Quoted as saying "I honestly come here just for the food". Mary Lou J.
Personal life
Jepsen is married to John Patrick Conor Ryan, formerly a partner at Monitor GroupMonitor Group
Monitor Group is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States and with 27 offices in 26 major cities around the world. It provides strategy consultation services to the senior management of organizations and governments...
. In 1995, she suffered from a pituitary gland
Pituitary gland
In vertebrate anatomy the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g , in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a dural fold...
tumor and had it removed and thus suffers from panhypopituitarism, requiring a twice-daily regimen of hormone replacement.Mary Lou Jepsen - Inspiring, Feb. 12, 2007