Donald J. Sauer, having studied under a Regents Scholarship at the University of California at Los Angeles, was awarded the BSEE magna cum laude in 1969. Upon graduation he joined RCA, Electromagnetic and Aviation Systems Division, in Van Nuys, Calif. There he was responsible for state-of-the-art circuit designs for audio amplifiers, power supplies, and encoding/decoding devices utilizing the RCA GUAIII PMOS 100-gate universal logic array. In 1973 he began working on charge-coupled digital memory devices intended for the replacement of rotating magnetic drums, and successfully designed and demonstrated experimental 4K-bit and 16K-bit CCD memories.

In 1974, Mr. Sauer transferred to RCA Laboratories, Princeton, N.J., as a Member of Technical Staff. He continued working on CCD technology and has been responsible for the design, layout, and characterization of charge-coupled devices for imaging, memory, and signal-processing applications. Mr. Sauer is the inventor or coinventor named in four U.S. patents and has six patents pending. He has received two RCA Laboratories Outstanding Achievement Awards. In 1976 he received the award for contributions to a team effort in developing and demonstrating the feasibility of charge-coupled delay-line techniques for video-signal processing applications, and in 1978 for contributions to a team effort in the application of charge-coupled devices in color television receivers.
- RCA 1979 Company Biography

Donald Sauer joined RCA Electromagnetic and Aviation Systems Division in Van Nuys, California in 1969. He was responsible far state-of-the-art circuit designs for audio amplifiers, power supplies, and encoding/decoding devices uSing universal logic arrays. In 1973, he began working on charge-coupled digital memory devices intended for the replacement of rotating magnetic drums and successfully designed and demonstrated experimental 4K-bit and 16K-bit CCD memories.

In 1974. Mr. Sauer transferred to RCA Laboratories, Princeton, New Jersey, as a Member of Technical Staff. He continued working on CCD technology and has been responsible for the design, layout, and characterization of charge-coupled devices for imaging, memory, and signal processing applications. Mr Sauer has received two RCA Laboratories Outstanding Achievement Awards for his work on CCD delay-line techniques for video signal processing. In 1981. Mr. Sauer received the David Sarnoff Award "For the development and implementation of a CCD comb-filter integrated circuit in Color TV receivers."
- RCA 1982 Company Biography

Mr. Sauer had a leading responsibility for the exact circuit designs and implementations that were incorporated in the comb filter IC. In this role, he was responsible for detailed circuit analysis, design, layout and characterization of the CCD and the other sub-circuits required in this video signal processing application. Mr. Sauer's contributions include a number of inventions which are incorporated in the comb filter IC and a number of patent applications were filed, some for Mr. Sauer alone and some jointly with others, covering these inventions which have issued as patents. These include the automatic bias control circuit for the comb filter, a differential amplifier circuit and a number of others.
- 1981 David Sarnoff Award Announcement

Donald Sauer designed and developed the first commercial charge-coupled device (CCD) comb-filter integrated circuits which established RCA leadership in color TV receiver signal quality. In addition, these patents are licensed world-wide for picture stabilization in camcorder, VCR, and videodisc products.

The CCD comb filter is one of seven integrated circuit design innovations in analog-digital applications, CCDs, and imaging/electro-optic processing applications Sauer has designed for the Sarnoff Center.

Sauer is a distinguished member of the technical staff in the Integrated Circuit Laboratory of Sarnoff's Solid State Division. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles and is the author of 21 technical publications and inventor or co-inventor of 25 U.S. patents.

In 1981, he received the David Sarnoff Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement -- the prestigious award is Sarnoff's highest technical honor. He is a resident of Allentown.
- 1994 NJ Inventors Hall of Fame Award Announcement

CITATION upon the presentation of THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF SCIENCE, HONORIS CAUSA to Donald J. Sauer:

For twenty years, Donald Sauer has consistently advanced the state of the art in integrated circuit design. His work at the David Sarnoff Research Center, formerly RCA Laboratories, in electronic Charged Couple Devices (CCD) for signal processing and imaging, solid state memories and high speed digital signal processing has made him a model of creativity, innovation and technical excellence.

A global thinker with a broad understanding of device physics, device technology, design tools, and design software, he has applied his unique interdisciplinary talents to the conceptualization and invention of many successful electronic systems. He possesses an exceptional ability to develop new device concepts and carry them through the detailed design and development phases to practical products.

Among his 29 patents are devices such as CCD comb filters that improved the quality of color television display and enabled a new generation of high definition television systems; an infrared image sensor used in cameras for missile tracking, military surveillance, and industrial process control systems; and an ultraviolet CCD detector array used to develop analytic instruments for testing environmental, medical and petrochemical samples to determine their chemical composition.

Donald Sauer was the first researcher at Sarnoff to be named Distinguished member of the Technical Staff, and is the recipient of seven technical achievement awards from RCA and Sarnoff. In 1994, he was honored by the New Jersey Inventors Congress and Hall of Fame.

In recognition of his creativity and unique professional contributions, New Jersey Institute of Technology is pleased to confer the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, upon Donald J. Sauer.
- New Jersey Institute of Technology, May 17, 1996

Donald J. Sauer retired on May 1, 1998 after twenty-nine years of service with RCA and Sarnoff.
- anonymous

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