By Moseley Labor
Otis graduated Fisk University in 1941 and went to work as a laboratory assistant for the Majestic Radio and TV Corporation of Chicago, testing automatic controls for airplanes. He is credited with 28 electronic patents throughout his career.
Otis developed an improved electrical resistor used in computers, radios, television sets and a variety of electronic devises. The resistor helped to reduce the cost of these products allowing for a greater number of people being able to afford them.
He also invented variable resistors that are used in guidedmissile parts, a burglar-proof cash register and a chemical air filter. His most notable achievement is that of developing the control unit that is used in artificial pace makers.
This is the device that uses electronic impulses to maintain a regular heartbeat, which has helped countless people extend their lives. Otis himself died in 1982 of heart failure.
