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 Adam Kissiah was born in
Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 19, 1929. He graduated from
Charlotte’s Oakhurst High School in May, 1947. After one year at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Adam joined the United
States Navy in July 1949, serving until March 1953. He is a veteran
of the Korean War and a graduate of the U.S. Naval School of
Electronics, November 1950.After discharge from the Navy, Adam
returned to school at
Charlotte College, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, NC where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1956.
From September 1956 to
April 1963, Adam was employed by RCA Service Company and Pan
American World Airways at Patrick Air Force Base’s Missile Test
Division as an electronic tracking systems engineer, supporting
Redstone, Jupiter, Mercury, Pershing, and Minuteman rocket programs.
In April 1963, he was
employed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as an Aerospace
Engineer involved in rocket-launch datasystems engineering. He
served in various capacities to Section Chief, and as Staff
Engineer, Contract Technical Manager/Representative in launch
instrumentation and data systems operation and management. He
supported Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test
Project (ASTP), and Shuttle programs
through November 1989.
During his employment with
NASA, Adam, because of personal hearing problems, studied the
electronics of the human hearing mechanism, applied for a patent
through NASA/Kennedy Space Center (KSC) patent counsel (James O.
Harrell) for the patent of
an Implantable Electronic Digital Hearing Aid (cochlear implant),
United States Patent # 4,063,048, awarded December 13, 1977, and
reissued (#31,031) Sep 14, 1982. The patent is considered the first
patented design for basic specifications for digital electronics
stimulation of the acoustic nerve in humans. The patent’s basic
design principles are currently being used in human implantation
(cochlear implants) for restoration of hearing in profoundly deaf
patients throughout the United States and in many other countries
around the world. Visit
www.hearagain.org for more information.
Adam spent 27 years at
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and retired December 2, 1989. Awards and
special recognition:
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In
April 2002, Adam received the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) USA
Electro-Technology Transfer Award for his
contribution to the cochlear implant
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In
October of 2002, he received NASA’s Space Act
Award for the cochlear implant invention
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In
April 2003, he was inducted into the National
Space Foundation’s Aerospace Technology Hall of
Fame
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In
July 2004, he received the New Ability
Federation’s (now World Ability Federation) Best
Individual Contribution Award for the cochlear
implant invention.
Adam is a
Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Canaveral Section,
Florida. He is also a member of the American Legion,
and is a current member of the Board of Directors of
the World Ability Federation, Chicago, Ill.
Adam lives
with his wife Barbara in Merritt Island, FL.
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