a trini is the mastermind behind the flat panel display touch screen....did you know? I didn't.

​When next you watch a flat screen TV or the slim screen on your laptop, thank Trinidadian research engineer Dr. Andre Dominic Cropper.
He is the mastermind behind the Flat Panel Display Touch Screen made from thin layers of laboratory produced diamond called Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED).
Cropper’s US patent for a new Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) facilitated the development of flat panel displays, which are today used in most electronic devices from ATM machines and flat-screen TVs to laptop computers.
He holds two patents for the inexpensive manufacture of OLEDs for use in TV displays.
Born on August 4th 1961, Cropper grew up in St. James and attended Newtown Boys’ RC School as well as Fatima College.
He had a keen interest in electronics from an early age, and his schoolboy hobby was dismantling and reassembling electronic devices.
He was also a keen swimmer at Flying Fish Swimming Pool, and went on to represent Trinidad and Tobago on swimming teams in regional and international games during the 1970s.
He, however, declined joining the T&T swim team to the 1984 Olympics in order to complete his university education.
He had already gone to the United States in 1978 and, at the time, had just graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Howard University in Washington D.C., but immediately started his Master’s degree. He graduated with honours in 1987.
Upon graduation, Cropper began teaching at Norfolk State University in Virginia. In his spare time, he began research on diamond technologies, and the use of thin layers of laboratory-developed diamonds as a semiconductor for new technological applications.
Cropper sent a proposal of this work to NASA, which was impressed by the idea. But, since he did not have his Ph.D., NASA stipulated that he would have to hand over his research to “a qualified researcher” and work under that person. 
Cropper refused the offer and decided to pursue a doctoral degree and develop his idea.
In 1995 he obtained his Ph.D. in Electrical/Materials Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.
On completion of this doctorate, he returned to Trinidas where he began teaching at the University of the West Indies in the Department of Electrical Engineering.
In 1999, Cropper joined Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, as a Research Associate and Project Manager of OLED applications.
His research work at Kodak included OLED applications, thin film diamond growth, production and its novel applications, new semi-conducting electronic and optoelectronic materials, flat panel display technologies, remote sensing, image exploitation and compression, information extraction and motion estimation.
His eventually took the position of Technology Development Manager for the Sensor Products within ITT Industries Space Systems Division.
In 2005 T&T recognised Dr. Cropper with the “National ICONS in Science & Technology” Award, and in 2006 the “Caribbean ICONS in Science Technology & Innovation” Award.
Also in 2006, Rochester Museum and Science Center, in Rochester NY, honoured him as one of the “Inventors – Who Makes Things Work in Rochester”.
In 2014, he was the recipient of the “Professional of the Year” Award for outstanding career achievements, from American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), and from Raytheon the “STAR Award” for outstanding Achievements within STEM Community in 2014, as well as an “Inventor Award” in 2014 and 2015.
This Caribbean icon in innovation embraces the arts, believing there's a similarity between artists, engineers and scientists - they create new things.
In a video feature by NIHERST, published on YouTube in 2012, he says: "An artist creates something...brings new experiences to life. A scientist does the same thing - brings a new technology forward, creates something new. There's a lot of synergy between arts and science."
Dr. Cropper is married to Trinidadian Natalie Rogers-Cropper, a professional dancer and dance school administrator at Garth Fagan Dance Company.
Source: www.caribbean-icons.org 

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