Bob Bruninga

Robert Ervin Bruninga
Bob Bruninga lecturing at the Naval Academy
Born	(1948-04-27)April 27, 1948 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Died	February 7, 2022(2022-02-07) (aged 73) Glen Burnie, Maryland, U.S.
Education	Georgia Institute of Technology Naval Postgraduate School Polytechnic Institute New York George Washington University
Occupations	Electrical engineer Lecturer Research Engineer
Employer	U.S. Naval Academy
Organizations	IEEE Amateur Satellite Corporation ARRL Foundation APRS Standards Committee
Known for	Development of the APRS Alternative energy activism Electric vehicle development
Notable work	APRS
Spouse	Carol Elise Albert (m.1985)
Children	2
Call sign	WB4APR
Awards	Technical Excellence Award, Dayton Hamvention 1998 YASMEE Foundation Technical Award 2010

Robert Ervin Bruninga (April 27, 1948 – February 7, 2022), better known as Bob Bruninga or by his amateur radio callsign WB4APR, was an American engineer, inventor, and activist. Bruninga's interests were diverse, but in his own view, inextricably interrelated. Audiences expecting to learn about satellite engineering or packet radio often found themselves the recipients of impassioned lectures on solar power, climate change, or electric vehicle engineering; or vice-versa. Although Bruninga was thus known to different constituencies for different innovations, he is most famous for developing the Automatic Packet Reporting System, or APRS, a globally-popular digital radio protocol used for real-time communication of formatted data. His advances in digital amateur radio communications are central to his career, and much of his other work was driven by that interest. In addition to creating APRS, Bruninga was a licensed professional engineer, a private pilot, a commander in the US Navy, launched nine satellite missions between 2001 and 2018, and was an indefatigable proponent of sustainable energy independence and electric vehicles.