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Jim Bornhorst
Chief Technology Officer and Senior Scientist
PRG
Based in PRG's Dallas R&D center, Jim Bornhorst oversees the development of new entertainment technologies for PRG.
In 1971, after receiving a BS in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, Jim joined Showco, a newly-established audio services company, as a touring sound engineer and console designer. Over the next ten years, Jim's innovations in sound system engineering helped Showco grow into one of the leading audio companies in the entertainment industry.
In 1980, Jim decided to address a problem that had been vexing the industry for decades: how to produce a commercially viable, remote-controlled spotlight. In a completely novel approach, he combined pivoting dichroic filters, the MARC 350 arc lamp, and a single digital data link to produce a prototype automated spotlight. In the process, he helped establish the world's first manufacturer of automated lights, Vari*Lite. In 1981, less than 18 months after he began his research, the first production version of his invention, the Vari*Lite VL1™, sparked an industry revolution as it embarked on a highly successful international concert tour.
Using new techniques such as local processing with cue memory and bi-directional data links, Jim and his engineering team soon achieved many other breakthroughs, including the all digital VL2™ and VL3™ luminaires, the Artisan® control console, and the VL4™, the first arc washlight with cross-fading colors. In the 1990s and 2000s, other breakthroughs followed, including the Series 300™ system, the VL5™ and VL6™ family of luminaires, the VL7™, with its extraordinary color production and 10:1 zoom, and most recently, the EX1™ media server.
Jim received an EMMY award in 1991 for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering for the development of the Series 200 lighting system. In 1994, he received a second EMMY for his development of the VL5™ wash luminaire. Jim was awarded the Wally Russell Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
Today, Jim continues to pursue technological breakthroughs, but with a much broader horizon than ever before. With access to all of PRG's lighting, audio, video, projection, and scenic technologies, Jim is now playing a lead role in the development of integrated entertainment technologies.