Walter Kistler
| Walter P. Kistler | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1918 Biel, Switzerland |
| Died | November 2, 2015 Redmond |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | Swiss/USA |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Bell Aircraft |
| Alma mater | University of Geneva, ETH Zurich |
| Known for | Multiple inventions, Kistler Group |
| Notable awards |
Albert F. Sperry Award (issued by the ISA) |
Albert F. Sperry Award (issued by the ISA)
Walter P. Kistler (1918 – November 2, 2015) was a physicist, inventor, and philanthropist, born in Biel, Switzerland. Kistler is a life member of the Swiss Physical Society and a member of AIAA and ISA, which presented him the Life Achievement Award in 2000. He held patents on more than 50 inventions in the scientific and industrial instrumentation fields, and had published a number of papers in scientific and trade journals.
Kistler studied sciences at the University of Geneva and earned a master's degree in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. While subsequently head of the Instrumentation Lab at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Winterthur, he pioneered a new measurement technology using Piezo-electric quartz crystals as the transduction element in accelerometers, load cells, and pressure gauges. This new technology was made possible by Kistler’s invention of a charge amplifier that could handle the very high impedance signals obtained from such sensors. For these achievements, he would in 1980 receive the prestigious Albert F. Sperry Award from the Instrument Society of America (ISA).
In 1951, Kistler moved to the United States and joined Bell Aircraft, Buffalo, New York. At Bell, he invented and developed a pulse constraint servo-accelerometer that was later used in the guidance of the Agena space rocket. For this work, he received the 1968 Aerospace Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), recognizing “his pioneering effort in the development of high-performance aerospace instrumentation.” In 1954, Kistler founded Kistler Instrument Company in order to further pursue his work in quartz instrumentation. The company was incorporated in 1957. Under Kistler's supervision, his company made several major innovations, some of which would be put to use in the Apollo manned spaceflights, and became a world leader in the development of quartz sensors.
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