Kickstarter

Since the launch of this Kickstarter project, I have been attempting to pinpoint when Frances Sarnat (Hugle) entered the field of semiconductor research. It appears that her research at Hyco Labs (her own company) may have paralleled developments at Bell Labs circa 1947 when the transistor was finally 'reduced to practice'. (The theory of transistors had been elucidated in the twenties and this theory was probably well known to her.)

And, an interesting connection has surfaced between her and NY attorney John Brody, an infamous master of corporate espionage who allegedly began his spy career at Bell Labs in the thirties. Some of his history and exploits are mentioned in the book, Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage.

Following Hyco Labs, Brody apparently funded Frances in a partnership venture with her new husband, William Hugle.

William Hugle would later re-play some of the more notorious events attributed to John Brody. He even became a bit infamous himself when he was named in the Harper Case in which it was alleged that William had masterminded the illegal transfer of top secret technologies to agents of the USSR in the early eighties.

That Frances was being 'shepherded' by corporate spies is becoming increasingly apparent. To what extent they may have influenced the course of events is yet to be determined.