Roger E. Billings

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Roger Billings
Dr. Roger E. Billings
Born	January 5, 1948 Provo, Utah
Occupation	Scientist, Entrepreneur
Spouse	Tonja Anderson

Roger Evan Billings (January 5, 1948 — Present) is an American entrepreneur and developer of high-tech products. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of hydrogen energy, having converted a car to run on hydrogen in 1965 as a high school student, which won him a Gold and Silver award at the International Science Fair. Although hydrogen had been nearly forgotten as a fuel source after Germany discontinued its use following World War II, Billings attempted to generate renewed interest in the technology by demonstrating working prototypes, including buses, forklifts, tractors, and a hydrogen powered home. Later, he retrofitted an automobile to run on a hydrogen fuel cell, and demonstrated the first hydrogen fuel cell car prototype in Philadelphia in 1991.

Billings is the author of two books on hydrogen energy technology, Hydrogen from Coal: A Cost Estimation Guidebook (1983) and Hydrogen World View (1991). Billings and his hydrogen fuel cell were featured in Time Magazine, July 14, 2003.

Billings has founded several successful high-tech companies, including WideBand Corporation, a pioneer in Gigabit Ethernet; Acellus Labs, developer of an interactive system for on-line education; and fs[ix] Corporation, a manufacturer of very high performance Servers for the computer industry. He is also one of five founders of the International Academy of Science, a small, non-profit applied science and science education corporation based in Independence, Missouri (not to be confused with the non-governmental organization founded in 1980, also called the International Academy of Science).

Billings has a second career as a performing magician. He is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and has performed his stage magic before television and live audiences on three continents. His specialty is “science” magic, where he uses the magician’s stage to create interest in science by demonstrating some of the wonders of technology. Recently he was awarded the mantle of “Doer-of-Wonders” by the veteran magician, Don Arthur, who originally received that designation from the great Harry Blackstone, Sr.

1 Early life
2 College and university
- 2.1 Marriage
3 Computer networking
4 External sources

[edit] Early life

Roger was born in Provo, Utah to Evan Abram Billings (1925-2005) of Delta, Utah; and Elda Mae Lewis (1927-2001) of Provo, Utah. He is one of six children. Evan worked as a mail carrier in Provo until he retired. He then moved to Independence, Missouri, on land that was once owned by his great grandfather, Titus Billings. In Missouri, Evan managed the Independence Memorial Airport. As a child, Roger was active in scouting, eventually earning the rank of [Eagle Scout]. In [high school] he played the [French horn] in the band and orchestra, receiving awards in solo competitions. In chemistry he was a lab assistant, winning the regional science fair three years in a row. He enjoyed sports including baseball, football, and basketball. He played on the high school tennis team and ran the 400 meters in track. He was also a varsity cheerleader.

[edit] College and university

Billings at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1967.

With the goal of continuing his efforts to develop hydrogen energy projects, Billings enrolled as a student at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the fall of 1966. After completion of the first semester of study, Billings went to São Paulo, Brazil, where he served a two-year mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and where he learned the Portuguese language. After his mission he returned to BYU where, as an undergraduate, he received a research grant from the Ford Motor Company and was given his own research lab to continue his studies of the hydrogen-fueled automobile. In the summer of 1972, Billings headed a team from Brigham Young University that won first prize for low emissions at the Urban Vehicle Design Competition held at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their winning entry was a hydrogen powered Volkswagen.

Billings received his Bachelor of Science degree from BYU in 1974 with a composite major in Physics, Chemistry, and Electrical, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering.

After his university studies, Billings was selected by Bill Lear, the creator of the Lear Jet, to be his protégé. Lear moved Billings and his young family into the Lear home in Reno, Nevada. For almost a year, Lear shared his knowledge of high-tech entrepreneurship. According to Billings, his “year with Lear” had a profound impact on his future success.

In 1985, after selling his first publicly-traded company, Billings Energy Corporation, Billings joined with Dr. Geoffrey K. Pardoe, Chairman, General Technology Systems in London; Dr. Alexei A. Tupolev of the Tupolev Design Bureau in Moscow; Willis Hawkins, President of Lockheed Corporation in California; and Olof Tegström, Founder and President of Tebetron in Sweden, to establish the International Academy of Science (Independence, Missouri) (IAS), a not-for-profit organization for the advancement of applied science and scientific education. The IAS awarded its 2006 Outstanding Technology of the Year Award to Robert Bussard's "Electric Fusion" process.[1]

The academic arm of the IAS -- the International Institute of Science and Technology -- teaches gifted students how to develop high-tech products and successfully “launch” high-tech companies. In the beginning, due to the non-traditional nature of the school, the IAS had difficulty attracting students. With a desire to formalize the mentoring experience that he had been through with Bill Lear and to experience the new program from the inside, Billings enrolled as a student at the IAS in 1985. For his dissertation, he studied the problems associated with creating a commercial hydrogen fuel cell suitable for automotive applications. The project culminated with the successful demonstration of the very first hydrogen fuel cell car.

Billings was awarded the Doctor of Research Degree in 1991, becoming the second student to graduate from the program. After Billings enrolled at the Academy, interest spread rapidly. Graduates of the school were in high demand by industry, since they possessed knowledge of scientific research combined with entrepreneurial skills such as marketing and business management.

[edit] Marriage

At BYU, Roger Billings participated in the Program Bureau as an MC and a magician. In one of the shows, he met a lovely dancer named Tonja Anderson. They were surprised to learn that they had both been cheerleaders at Provo High School just three years apart even though they had never met. They were married on June 1, 1971. They have two sons and seven daughters.

[edit] Computer networking

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In 1976 Billings started a computer company -- Billings Computer -- where he manufactured one of the first personal computers. He also founded Caldisk of Anaheim, California, the company that invented the "double-sided" floppy disk drive. Caldisk quickly became the industry's second largest manufacturer of floppy disk drives and was eventually acquired by World Computer.

In 1991, Billings formed WideBand Corporation, a US-based manufacturer of professional computer networking products. In 1993, WideBand launched the first networking product to send data at gigabit data rates over conventional Category 5 copper cabling. The proprietary WideBand technology was adopted by computer users that needed higher performance, including the graphics industry and the motion picture special effects community.

In 1999, the standard for Gigabit Ethernet was adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Billings, on behalf of WideBand Corporation, participated in the development of the networking standard as a technical contributor to the standards process. After ratification of the new standard, WideBand Corporation abandoned their proprietary technology by replacing it with a new version that fully supported the new IEEE standard.

One of the major drawbacks of the new Gigabit Ethernet standard was the need to rewire a building with an improved cable, such as Category 5E, before upgrading to the higher data rate. WideBand Cororation came out with a product line was capable of reliable data communications at gigabit data rates over the conventional Category 5 cabling. This feature provided a significant cost savings to users, since they were not required to rewire their buildings.

Today, WideBand markets their Gigabit Ethernet products through a worldwide organization of 350 independent resellers. They also market a line of network monitoring and management equipment. WideBand Corporation is located in Gallatin, Missouri.

Billings is also the President and founder of fs[ix] Corporation (pronounced "physics"), which has developed a line of large capacity, high-performance servers. The fs[ix] servers utilize dedicated hardware to offer a performance gain over other network operating systems, which are designed to be installed on all types of hardware. The fs[ix] servers are shipped with the fs[ix] operating system already installed.

The fs[ix] servers are designed to be more secure than other brands by not allowing user generated applications to be executed on the servers. Instead, fs[ix] servers provide a programming interface called nPX, which allows html programmers to build complex database applications on the servers in a fraction of the time that is normally required and without any cgi programming needed. This shortens development time and, due to its higher throughput, allows fs[ix] servers to handle more simultaneous users. The fs[ix] servers are marketed by WideBand Corporation.

Roger Billings has also developed Acellus, an interactive, computer-based learning system that is being used by schools throughout the United States to help students learn Mathematics. Acellus is an education tool that takes a scientific approach to learning. It enables students to work at their own pace and to build a strong foundation in math and science. Acellus has now reached over 230,000 students.