Published: September 12, 2026
The digital infrastructure we rely on today—ranging from the wireless protocols running on our ESP32 boards to the cellular hardware connecting remote IoT sensors—did not emerge overnight. It was forged by visionary researchers, educators, and engineers working in academic labs and industrial research centers during the mid-to-late 20th century. Recently, the engineering community bid farewell to several key figures who established these foundational technologies. In this retrospective, we pay tribute to their lives, their breakthroughs, and their lasting contributions to hardware and software engineering.
Long before Wi-Fi or LTE networks existed, data communication was heavily tethered to physical wires. Franklin "Frank" Kuo, who recently passed away at the age of 91, was instrumental in breaking these physical bounds. Alongside fellow researcher Norman Abramson at the University of Hawaii, Kuo co-developed ALOHAnet, which launched in 1971. This was the world's first public demonstration of a wireless packet data network.
