Hans Motsch

Inducted May 2013

Everyone who uses electronics employs surface mount. Hans Motsch is why. In 1978, while working for a German metal repair company known as Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik, Motsch invented surface mount technology. He described connecting "flat, film-like components" to a printed circuit board ... "so that the junctions of the components touch but do not extend into the holes." Motsch, who was issued patents for his idea in Germany (1980) and the US (1983), said he wanted avoid the potential damage to components that came with passing them through the wave.

WM eventually evolved into a coffee maker OEM, and Motsch evolved with it, earning multiple patents for coffee percolaters later in his career.