Joseph Gerber
| Joseph Gerber | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 17, 1924 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | August 8, 1996 (aged 72) Hartford, Connecticut, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Occupation | Manufacturing automation systems |
| Spouse(s) | Sonia Kanciper Gerber (1929-2003) (m. 1954-1996) |
| Awards | National Medal of Technology (1994) |
H. (Heinz) Joseph Gerber (April 17, 1924 – August 8, 1996) was an American inventor and businessman. An Austrian-born Jewish Holocaust survivor who immigrated in 1940, he pioneered computer-automated manufacturing systems for an array of industries. Described as the "Thomas Edison" of manufacturing, he was one of the first to recognize and develop the productivity-enhancing potential for computer automation in skill-intensive industrial sectors.
His work in this field grew from his early developments of graphical-numerical computing devices, data-reduction tools, and plotters.
He was awarded America’s National Medal of Technology, the country’s highest recognition in technology and innovation, in 1994, for his "technical leadership in the invention, development and commercialization of manufacturing automation systems for a wide variety of industries." These industries ranged from automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, clothing, and consumer electronics, to printing, sign making, cobbling, cartography, and lens crafting, among others.
Gerber was born into a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria and showed an early fascination with technology. By age eight, he had built radios and developed magnetic circuit breakers to preserve his batteries. Following Germany’s 1938 Anschluss, he was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp, eventually to be released. In 1940, he fled with his mother, immigrating as a destitute to New York City and soon thereafter Hartford, Conn. to work in the tobacco fields. His father would not survive the Holocaust in Europe.
In Hartford, Gerber completed high school in just two years while learning English and holding down full-time and part-time jobs. He entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY on scholarship, and graduated two and one-half years later with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering. In his junior year, he invented the Gerber Variable Scale, a graphical-numerical computing device that he conceived from the elastic waistband of his pajamas.
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