Martin Cooper

Martin or Marty Cooper may refer to:

Martin Cooper (inventor)

Martin "Marty" Cooper (born December 26, 1928) is an American engineer. He is a pioneer and visionary in the wireless communications industry. With eleven patents in the field, he is recognized as an innovator in radio spectrum management.

While at Motorola in the 1970s, Cooper conceived the first handheld mobile phone (distinct from the car phone) in 1973 and led the team that developed it and brought it to market in 1983. He is considered the "father of the cell phone" and is also cited as the first person in history to make a handheld cellular phone call in public.

Cooper is co-founder of numerous successful communications companies with his wife and business partner Arlene Harris; also known as the "first lady of wireless." He is co-founder and current Chairman of Dyna LLC, in Del Mar, California. Cooper also sits on committees supporting the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the United States Department of Commerce.

Education

Cooper graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 1950. After graduating he enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve where he served as a submarine officer during the Korean War. In 1957 Cooper went on to earn his master's degree from IIT in electrical engineering and in 2004 IIT awarded Cooper an honorary doctorate degree. He serves on the University's Board of Trustees.

Martin Cooper (musician)

Martin Cooper (born 1 October 1958, Liverpool, England) is a painter and a musician. He is the secondary keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, whom he first joined in 1980.

Musical career

From 1980 until 1989, Cooper was a member of the new wave group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Prior to joining OMD, Cooper played the saxophone at some of their concerts, or they used his pre-recorded work. He also played with Dalek I Love You. In 1981, he briefly left OMD to join Dave Hughes for a project called Godot.

Cooper also made some writing contributions to their songs. His biggest success was "Souvenir", co-written with Paul Humphreys, which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.

Besides playing in OMD, Cooper and Hughes wrote film scores for C.H.U.D. and Knights and Armour amongst others. After OMD split in 1989, Cooper formed The Listening Pool with ex-OMD members Paul Humphreys and Malcolm Holmes. They also founded their own record label, Telegraph Records. The Listening Pool released one album Still Life, which had one of Cooper's paintings as the album cover. The band broke up in 1996.