Obituary of Stanford Ovshinsky (1922-2012)

Stanford R. Ovshinsky, who invented the nickle-metal hybrid battery and contributed to the development of solar panels, flat-panel displays, and rewritable compact discs died from prostate cancer on Wednesday, 17 October, 2012. Lacking a college education and exempted from military service due to asthma, Ovshinsky worked in an aircraft factory during World War 2. He founded a machine and lathe manufacturing shop in 1946 and filed a patent for a novel lathe design. The shop was bought out by the New Britain Machine Company in 1950, and Ovshinsky worked there until 1952 when he became the director of research at Hupp, a motor manufacturer. In 1955 he and his brother founded a company where he designed robotic automation equipment for automobile manufacturers in Detroit, Michigan. While there, he challenged accepted wisdom about what materials could be used in semiconductors. Based on the technology of amorphous material superconductors, he and his second wife founded Energy Conversion Laboratories (later Energy Conversion Devices) in 1960. The company began producing devices using patents Ovshinsky obtained for technologies related to thin-film solar cells, nickle-metal batteries, and electronic memory. Ovshinksy also promoted alternative energy and designed a hydrogen fuel cell. While his company often ran at a financial loss, The Economist once wrote an article about him titled “The Edison of Our Age?” He is survived by his third wife, three children and two step-children from his first marriage, two step-children from his third marriage, his brother, and six grandchildren and step-grandchildren.