1928-

American engineer and inventor who first developed the light-emitting diode (LED), subsequently used in a wide variety of products. LEDs are solid-state devices that emit light when energized. First used in digital watches and calculators, LEDs required far less power and were more compact than their predecessors. Though largely replaced by even more efficient liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LEDs are still used in many devices, such as miniature LED lasers.