Dr. James W. Overbeck

Dr. James W. Overbeck HINGHAM Jim Overbeck, a physicist and engineer, died on August 7, 2009, at the age of 70. Born in Waltham, he moved several times as he was growing up. His father was involved in the Manhattan Project where his father was one of the 42 scientists and engineers who produced the first man-made nuclear chain reaction in Chicago. Jim had an inspiring fascination with nature's intricate beauty, which sparked a long, successful and astoundingly wide-ranging scientific career. He graduated from MIT in 1960, first in his class, and spent a year at Princeton as a graduate student in physics before returning to MIT to receive his Ph.D. degree, in 1964. During five years teaching at MIT, he led an independent research program in X-ray astronomy and made several discoveries about Cygnus XR-l, the first "X-ray star" to be confirmed, in later years, as a black hole. In 1969 Jim began the first of several posts with eastern Massachusetts entrepreneurial companies, including Synergistics Inc., of Natick, where he developed a boarding-pass vending system for use by airlines, and Boston-based Teradyne Inc., where he designed the Teradyne M118, the first laser trimmer used to repair analog memory integrated circuits. Jim later founded and served as president of XRL Inc. of Canton, one of the three major manufacturers of laser memory repair systems. XRL was acquired by Electro Scientific Industries of Portland, Ore. He then returned to consulting, helped found Genetic Microsystems Inc., which was later acquired by Affymetrix. There he developed equipment to scan biogenetic material. Among his other designs were a flight-worthy scanning laser-radar system to prevent collisions between helicopters and sand dunes during night operationsa project he completed from start to finish in three months. He held several patents for his inventions, and frequently wrote for scientific publications. But it was his personality, sharing freely with associates, that is most remembered. "Jim was exceptionally generous with his time and advice, as well as scientific analytics, so that his contribution went beyond traditional channels," remembered former colleague, Jean "Coco" Montagu. Beloved as a husband and as a father, Jim delighted in time spent with his sons, taking them to their many sports practices and participating in their activities as they grew up. As a neighbor in his World's End home, Jim was not only a friend but a sort of next-door "Mister Wizard," applying science to countless everyday projects, no matter how small-scale. On noticing last year that robins were nesting in his front-door wreath, he first worriedand then carefully calculatedthat the wire framework for the circle of greens was too unstable to support the growing avian family. Feverishly working whenever the eggs were left unattended by the foraging parents, Jim constructed a reinforcement for the wreath. He then photographically chronicled the hatching of the young birds and their successful departure from the nest. (Only then did Jim and Anne, his wife of 40 years, remove the Caution: Birds Nesting warning sign to visitors, and resume using their own front entrance.) Besides Anne he leaves his three sons: James Overbeck of Tokyo; Ryan and his wife Londa Overbeck of New York City; and Michael Overbeck of San Francisco. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend a celebration of Jims life at a memorial service at St. Johns the Evangelist, 172 Main St., Hingham, Saturday, August 15, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers donations to Jims memory may be made to support Dr. Matthew Meyersons genetic research in lung cancer at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place, Brookline, 02445. See www. Keohane.com for online condolences.