James Edward Zimmerman (February 19, 1923 – August 4, 1999) was born in Lantry, South Dakota.
He was a coinventor of the radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and he is credited with coining the term.
While at NIST, Zimmerman introduced two important innovations in SQUID magnetometry: In addition, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he also gave a major contribution to the development of low-power closed-cycle Stirling refrigerators, to reach temperatures in the range 4K - 8K with the purpose of cooling SQUID devices and small-scale superconducting electronics without resorting to liquid helium dewar vessels.
A major achievement was the use of plastic parts made in the laboratory, which would be assembled in a totally non-magnetic cryocooler (refrigerator), in order not to interfere with highly sensitive SQUIDs.. Later, he was also involved in the development of pulse tube cryocoolers.
This article about a United States engineer, inventor or industrial designer is a stub.