Patent pioneer Hughes dies at 80

By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff | Thursday, February 22, 2007

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RAPID CITY -- Bill Hughes, a patent pioneer in the fields of color television and oil pipelines, died Wednesday in Rapid City.

Hughes, 80, lost a four-year battle with leukemia, but his colorful personality promises to leave a long legacy at his beloved alma mater, the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He was a professor emeritus of electrical engineering and served as vice president of academic affairs for the science and engineering school from 1988 to 1993.

Even from his bed at Rapid City Regional Hospital the night before he died, Hughes was making plans and designing inventions to benefit SDSM&T, according to former president Dick Gowen.

"Next to his family, the School of Mines was his major consideration," Gowen said of the colleague he has known for nearly 50 years. "When I left Bill at 6:30 (Tuesday) night, he was still redesigning programs. He told me, 'I'm going to keep working on the design.'"

Hughes returned to his hometown of Rapid City after retiring from a long and successful academic career in electrical engineering at Iowa State University and Oklahoma State University.

Like most electrical engineering students in the United States, Larry Simonson remembers studying from the textbook that Hughes co-authored, "Lines, Waves and Antennas," which became a "hallmark" of electrical engineering education. Simonson, now a professor of electrical engineering at Tech, nominated Hughes for the Distinguished Alumnus Award, which he received at the December 2006 commencement.

"He had an absolutely tremendous career," Simonson said.

Hughes also founded companies that capitalized on some of the 14 patents he held in the fields of color television and oil pipeline technology. The first hand-held color television camera used commercially by ABC - at the 1967 winter Olympic Games in France - was among his patents.

The technology that Hughes developed - that used induction heating to heat large underground oil pipelines to protect them from corrosion - made him a frequent consultant in Middle East countries. That led to lifelong friendships with many Jews and Muslims and an abiding interest in other cultures and religions, Abul Rafiq Hasan said. Hasan, chairman of the electrical and computer engineering department at SDSM&T, called Hughes a good friend and a staunch supporter of Muslims in Rapid City.

Hughes was a fourth-generation Rapid City native, with deep roots in the history of the Black Hills area and ties to many civic organizations. Among his many community activities was the multi-cultural group, Bridges for Intercultural Understanding.

"He was a devout Christian with a deep and profound understanding about other religions. He believed in his religion and respected others, and he had good friends who were Christians, Muslims and Jews," Hasan said. "Of course, he was a hell of an engineer. I have always admired him. We are all very sad about the passing of this great man."

At the time of his death, Hughes was working on new technologies for electric drive systems for Army tanks and other vehicles, Gowen said. The U.S. military is interested in the technology, and the school will share in any profits from the company, Dakota Power, which Hughes created to market it.

Less than two weeks ago, he signed letters to 680 alumni of the electrical engineering department, jotting personal notes to many of them, Simonson said.

In addition to being a tireless fundraiser, Hughes was an avid beekeeper and ham radio operator. His signature sign-off - "Cheers, Bill" - whether by e-mail, letter or ham radio, will be missed by many.