The holder of 21 U.S. patents and numerous foreign counterparts, Errol P. EerNisse is president of Quartex Inc. and Quartztronics Inc., companies he helped found. A native of South Dakota, he completed his bachelor's degree there before coming to Purdue to do his master's and doctoral work. Upon completing his Ph.D. at Purdue he joined Sandia National Laboratories where he carried out research on ferroelectric, diffuse ferroelectric and piezoelectric devices. He rose to supervise the research division involved in radiation damage effects of semiconductor devices.

In 1979 EerNisse moved to Salt Lake City and helped found Quartex Inc. and Quartztronics Inc., a corporation devoted to the research and development of quartz resonators as sensors to measure acceleration, pressure, and temperature. While continuing to serve as president of these corporations, he also helped found and manage 12 other Utah high-tech corporations devoted to developing quartz resonator sensors which EerNisse invented or co-invented.

EerNisse is the author or co-author of 92 journal publications and two books. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Senior Member of the Instrument Society of America, and a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He received the W.G. Cady Award. He was named a Distinguished Engineer in 1985 and the Entrepreneur of the Year in 1996 by South Dakota State University and in 1994 received the Governor's Medal for Science and Technology from the State of Utah.