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Stan’s sketches

October 9, 2015

Stan was a person with a lot of talents! He could be a very good painter. His sketches covered any corner of his notebooks and Iris was collected all of them. At the end were about 8 folders and a bunch of notebooks, full of sketches. All characters were different and I have the feeling that his emotions were reflected on them.

Stan's birthday party speech

February 8, 2013

Thank you from "the grass roots"

November 20, 2012

Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI) - Willits, California:

Stan was the first honorary member of REDI’s Advisory Board and a good friend. Our sympathies go out to the family, and to his many friends and colleagues, for their loss. We have many fond memories of him. He and his wife Iris were very kind and supportive of our efforts. They dedicated their lives to solving some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems through invention, science and technology—and compassion.

The first time I met Stan, he was to give a keynote speech at the 1995 REDI Conference here in Willits, which I helped to staff and organize. At that event, REDI presented him with an award for his work in renewable energy. I remember when he and Iris arrived for our dinner at the local community center; I was outside the hall to greet them. After introductions, I asked what had compelled them to accept the invitation and come all the way out west, then drive three more hours from the nearest airport, just to talk to a small assembly in this remote hamlet of the North Coast. He told us, “I said to Iris, we have to support the grass roots.” Which, of course, is what we were, a core group of enthusiasts networking like mad to advance technologies such as those Stan and Iris worked so hard and intelligently to develop. They insisted on paying for their own dinner tickets like any other guest. And when I heard his talk, I was moved by the story of his visit to China, of seeing the black smoke spewing from vehicles that millions of people relied upon, and how he became more determined than ever to apply his discoveries to replacing all those dirty cars and scooters with clean, sustainable ones. His work was not just about technology—it was a means to serve humanity.

Not long after that encounter, Stan generously hosted me for a visit to ECD in Troy, Michigan, where I was given a personal tour (by a very nice VP) of his several affiliated research labs and manufacturing plants, a great education for me. There I met Iris again, and Bob Stempel. Just before the trip, one of our volunteers dug out a well-worn copy of a science journal dating from the 1970s with an article of Stan’s on the conductivity of amorphous silicon. It was fun to deliver this to my hosts and let them know the kind of fan club they had out there in the grass roots world. Bob became engrossed in a copy of REDI’s Solar Energy Expo & Rally (SEER) program, with its many innovative electric vehicles. We had wonderful conversations over a couple of meals; they were so gracious with their time and hospitality.

Stan donated UniSolar’s thin-film building-integrated PV roofing material for one of our demonstration systems installed on the REDI Haus. Using the principle of the amorphous silicon semiconductors, more than a decade later these modules continue to provide clean, renewable solar energy.

When we last spoke in January 2009, he said that he and Bob Stempel, with a small, dedicated and talented team, had started yet another company. They were “making a machine to solve problems of CO2 and oil dependency” that would be “cheaper than coal.” As to advising REDI on some of our strategic goals, he was honored to be “a part of us” but his only advice was that we didn’t need “people who pretend to be experts,” that we should “just do it.”

I corresponded with Stan over the years; at Christmas, his poems and Iris’ photography always made an evocative, poignant, or uplifting work of art. I was thinking of him just a few days before he died, that it was time I wrote to him again. Through all of the ups and downs of his life’s work, he was warm and genuine, determined and brilliant to the last.

Thank you, Stan and Iris, for the inspiration and friendship! We love you and will never forget you.

Janet Orth, Vice President, REDI

More photos uploaded:
Stan and Iris at an EV rally in 1995 at Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, which was followed by Stan’s talk at the REDI Conference in Willits.

the 2012 Hans Bethe Award

November 18, 2012

 

Stan was the recipient of the 2012 Hans Bethe Award from The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) for his outstanding reasearch and development of material science that have been applied to solar photovoltaic technologies, superconductuctors and electric vehicles. 
Robin and Rosa attended the award ceremony at the National Press Club, Washington, DC on November 9, 2012. Rosa received the award on behalf of Stan. Here is her acceptance speech that paid tribute to Stan.  

I am extremely saddened by the fact that I have to be here to receive the award on behalf of my husband, Stanford Ovshinsky. He passed away a little more than three weeks ago, on Oct 17. This award means a lot to him. Thanks to the committee for selecting him and honoring him in this award ceremony.   

Stan came from a humble background and never attended college. Yet, he developed a new field of science - the science of amorphous and disordered materials, from which many important products that touch our daily life are based upon. For example, the amorphous silicon thin film transistor enabled the liquid crystal display for computer screens and televisions; the NiMH battery enables the hybrid car industry. His phase change memory is on the verge of replacing flash memory in smart phones because of the high storage density, low power consumption and fast access speed. It has already been implemented in several models of Samsung’s phones.

In 1960, he and his late wife Iris founded Energy Conversion Devices with a mission of developing technology to solve the societal problem, especially in energy and information fields.  Energy and Information, he called the twin pillars of the economy.  The company’s slogan was “We invent the material, we invent the product and we invent the manufacturing technology.”

Here, I would like to share a few of his energy vision and products.( please go to photo gallery to see the following six slides.
Slide # 1:  Stan was doing hydrogen fuel cell experiments in 1960. From early on, he considered hydrogen as the ultimate fuel.
Slide # 2: This is his hydrogen hybrid vehicle program using metal hydride to store hydrogen onboard vehicles. This illustrated his system approach – from developing material, to design and test the hydrogen storage vessels, to vehicle integration, to refilling infrastructure. In the material development, we start with a few grams of material for screening testing, to a few Kg of material for small vessel testing and to produce a few 100’s Kg of material for commercial product.
Slide # 3: The same approach was used for the NiMH battery program, from material, to battery cell, to modules, to pack, to vehicle integration.

Stan was not only a scientist, an inventor, he is also an artist. His product and machine were designed not just for the functionality, also needed to be aesthetically pleasing.
Slide # 4: This shows his roll to roll photovoltaic manufacturing machine. He said it looks like a cathedral.
Slide # 5: Six rolls of the stainless substrate were loaded into the machine simultaneously. Each deposition cycle produces 9 miles of coated PV films.
Here shows the roll of finished product and the installation of the product on the roof. It is simple and elegant.
Slide # 6: The photovoltaic panel on the roof.

Equally important was he created a unique company culture, inspiring and stimulating freedom of thinking and avoiding bureaucracy. He treated all his colleagues with respect, kindness and generosity. His lifelong motto was “With the Oppressed against the Oppressor.”

After he left ECD in 2007, he founded Ovshinsky Innovation to continue his lifelong mission of making photovoltaic electricity cheaper than that produced from coal. He personally funded the project in the past 6 years. In his vocabulary there is no word “retirement”. He worked until his last month.

With all the accomplishments he achieved, he was considered a controversial figure. He was a visionary, a doer with a genius mind. He saw things differently from the ordinary people. From A to B, he often sees a straight line rather than the zigzag path. However, given time he delivered what he envisioned.

He often said that his life was a struggle. This award meant so much to Stan. It provides recognition for his lifetime of innovative work. Thank you.

 

My greatest luncheon experience

November 11, 2012

 My apologies for doing this a third time but when you loose a wonderful friend, the stream of consiousness never stops and the sweet memories continue forever.  Our brain loves to remember the GOOD and forget the BAD in life.  So here we go, Stan as you all so very well know, was inclusive to all and forgot no one, including myself.  I would wander over to ECD and meet all these wonderful men and women of science totally outside of my field,exciting to say the least!!!   Then one day totally by chance I was around Stan's office at approx lunchtime.  Having battled weight all my life, I had never refused a free lunch.  Well, this particular day was no  exception,for Stan had invited me to lunch with him and a friend.  So I walk into the room,myself, Stan and his friend that was all.  Stan in his very unassuming manner said "I would like you to meet Dr. Edward Teller".  Wow, here I was with two of the greatest scientific minds alive at the time, Nobel lauriate(another who should have been) father of the hydrogen bomb and head of Lawrence-Livermore national labs.  And what did we talk about for approx 3 hrs. lots including HYDROGEN, hybrid cars,the future of transportation, solar cells and so much more.  Dr. Teller was seeking Stan's advice on the PCM chip  for Dr. Teller needed this radiation hard semiconductor for space and THE STAR WARS PROGRAM.  I knew then more than ever Stan was, not only a man of the ages,respected by the greatest minds in science, but his human scope was so wide touching so so many, and he treatred EVERBODY with the same DIGNITY and RESPECT.  It will take a very very long time before ANY of us encounter another Stan OVSHINSKY.  As Dr. Rabbi stated in print/was Stan another Edison or Einstein? when questioned/he answered no HE IS AN OVSHINSKY!!!  We thanks GOD we were all blessed to know this very special human being.

The "Ovshinsky effect"

November 7, 2012

I always considered Stan my mentor in utilizing creativity and inventivity in technology. Stan was unique. I haven’t known Stan personally in 1972 when I was working on my research for the master degree in electro-optics from the Hebrew University. The title of my thesis was “Ovshinsky effects in calcogenide glasses”. When I ended my studies for PhD at the Liquid Crystal Institute in Kent, Ohio, I was invited to give a talk at ECD about the integration of amorphous semiconductors and liquid crystals for display applications. During my talk and my visit to ECD I learned that the president and the founder of ECD is the same Ovshinsky as in the title of my MSc thesis. What a surprise! I had an offer the same day to start research and development for establishing OIS Optical Imaging Systems, and the rest is history. I am very pleased to see in the Detroit News that Stan predicted the “tubeless television sets that could be hung on the wall like a picture” and the revolution of flat-screen TVs. It makes me happy to have a direct contribution to Stan’s legacy.

The picture shows the opening of the first plant of OIS Optical Imaging Systems in the summer of 1984.

Stan and Hurricane Sandy

November 4, 2012

I have been thinking of Stan, while I watch from my relatively unscathed neighborhood in Manhattan, as the city and the region calculate the damage and begin efforts to recover from the horrific storm.  

I took a taxi home last night and noted the gas needle registered nearly a full tank.  The driver explained he had driven over an hour into Connecticut to wait on a three hour line to fill up and drove an hour back before starting his shift.  He said it was worth it because at least he knew at the end of the wait the station would have gas, unlike ones closer to the city which have run out.  I remarked that his tank still looked completely full after his trip back, he proudly stated, "I have a hybrid - this tank will last me for both of my shifts this weekend!" Tears sprung to my eyes, and I wished Stan was sitting next to me to hear this.  

All week I had of course been thinking about Stan's prescient focus on climate change, but as people have started pulling guns on each other while fighting on long lines at gas stations, I thought of this tragic war over fossil fuel even he didn't forsee.  

Miss you Stan......

 

An inspiration to us all

October 24, 2012

My family’s life crossed with that of Stan’s just as I was beginning my undergraduate studies in 2007.  A few months later, I began working in Stan’s new company, Ovshinsky Innovation (Solar).  Quite often, Stan would ask me about my plans for my studies, for my career and for my life, in general.  My ideas changed every week, but Stan always gave me the chance to explain my logic and motivations.  He was supportive and offered advice to help me find solutions to any “buts” that I encountered.  When halfway through my first semester at the University of Michigan, I decided that I would rather study political science than biology, my peers and some of my family members derided my decision.  I expected that Stan, as a scientist, would also try to convince me to stick to biology, but to my surprise, Stan insisted that I take the path that most interested me.  For years afterwards, he would constantly encourage me to go beyond the usual aspirations, especially when he saw that I was passionate about something.  In conversations with Stan, the impossible would suddenly become possible, and I always found new inspiration in his words. 

Thank you, Stan.  I will never forget you. 

October 24, 2012

We will always remember Stan with admiration as a great scientist and a warm friend.
He would not hesitate to teach us over and over at his office on Maple Road and share his
insights on photovoltaics or amorphous science as his mind was ahead of his time.

We would not forget the time we spent in Japan with Stan, together with Haru Reischauer,
Momoko and Joi Ito, and his continued care and support.

-- Yozo, Kayo and Genya Takeda

October 24, 2012

Stan's house was where Joi and I were introduced to so many of the finer things in life, from champagne to music and literature, and where we went to have our intellectual curiosity stoked in ways that will serve us for our entires lives. Joi's smile here captures what the Ovshinsky home meant to us growing up.

batterydoc@yahoo.com

October 23, 2012

Addition from before.  A pvt group of doctors/farmers/industrialists from W. Mich started Harding Energy in Norton Shores,Mich.of which I was part of circa 1991. 20 plus years still a pvt co.NO GOVT $$$$ and profitable.  We are a liscensee of Ovonic battery(now owned by BASF) and MADE NIMH batteries in Norton Shores obtaining our negative electrodes from Ovonic Battery-Ovonic materials(now OM owned by Great Western Technologies part of Great Western Minerals(Canada).  Stan was on our side to purchase a license whereas all the others said No they are TOO SMALL and will never make it.  Stan prevailed and we were licence #4. Going strong no debt and profitable(not manufacturing battery cells though) 22 yrs later. You might want to check out ALL THE FAILED battery attempts especially in MICH-BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of state and federal$$$$$-this includes A123/L-G Chemical/ener1(that is a battery co li-ion in Indiana).. Stan ALWAYS said stay away from LITHIUM it is dangerous!!!!  When VARTA got liscense#1 they stated to the world NIMH is a battery/a hydrogen storage alloy/an electrolysis unit/and a fuel cell.  Yrs later the NIMH in Germany(Varta-Robert Bosch-BASF) and in Japan with Toyota.  And so so so many mistakes/failures in the Lithium-ion arena with WASTE of billions upon billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$.  God bless you Stan/the world should have listened far better to your GENIUS, which will become LOUDER and LOUDER as time passes-STAN YOU WERE RIGHT IN SO SO MANY AREAS.  Again may God bless you and your family. Batterydoc.

Napa Stan was so proud of Pablo.....

October 22, 2012

....and would have loved to hear him say what he learned in first grade recently, " Rosa [Parks] sat, so Martin could walk, so Barack could run......"

(told by Pablo's dad Steven) 

The early days

October 22, 2012

I worked for ECD starting in the fall of 1968 and continued to work there during the summers until the early 70’s. I remember the day that Stan’s first paper was published in Physical Review Letters. I believe it was on a Friday and by Monday there was a lot of demand for ECD stock, but very few sellers, and the stock price soared. There was a big article in the paper about Stan and ECD, and one of Stan’s old acquaintances from Akron was quoted as saying “Stan was such a good salesman, he could sell a dead man a suit with two pairs of pants”. The thought is the same as when Helmut Fritsche talks about how Stan could always bring you into his sphere, just in more earthy tones.

When I first started working at ECD there were fewer than 30 employees. It was what one would call a startup today. Stan thought we should all show our dedication to the endeavor by coming in to work on Saturday morning. Stan would pay for lunch and we would all place our orders at this great deli, and then Len Podlewski would go and pick the food up and bring it back to the lab. Some of the bigger deals in engineering would show up just in time to place their order. I don’t know how much work got done on Saturday, but we ate well.

By the time I left, ECD had over a hundred employees. When I started we were using bull’s eye depositions to check out the switching properties of different chalcogenide compounds. A few years later there were engineers galore, designing integrated circuits of ever increasing complexity, as well as a bunch of physicists trying to figure out why it all worked. In between I remember Fritz Goro coming through to do his photo spread for Life Magazine, chauffeuring Sir Neville Mott from the airport to Troy, and talking politics with Harley Shaiken back in the machine shop. When Stan would make the rounds of the building he would often stop by and ask about the student movement on the campus where I went to school.

My parents had been friends of Stan’s since the late forties, back in their home town of Akron. Stan’s first wife was my mother’s stepsister. Later my father went to work for Stan in the sixties, and that is how I came to work at ECD. There is one more story I would like to tell and I don’t remember if I heard from Stan or my father, but it involved Stan, my dad, a rifle and a Ku Klux Klan meeting. Oh, this is the internet, maybe I shouldn’t say anymore.

Stan and Iris always remembered the important events in my parent’s life, and I have fond memories of Stan and working for ECD. He will be sorely missed, and my condolences to the entire Ovshinsky clan.

California trips

October 21, 2012

As the daughter in law of Stan's cousin Robert (Bob) Felixson I had the pleasure of interacting with Stan on a few occasions and was in awe each time.

I remember Bob boasting of his cousin around 1992 or 1993 of inventing the battery used for cell phones and laptops and talking about something called an LCD screen. In the early to even mid 90's no one had heard of such a thing, except for maybe in a big stadium.

I first met Stan at an energy conference in Beverly Hills where he spoke of developing a solid hydrogen fuel and I was so inpired. Knowing what he had already invented, I was hoping that I would be driving a solid fuel hydrogen car in the near future.

Knowing that I had interacted with one of the most brilliant men in the world, being able to listen to a vision and passion for clean and renewable energy made me want to do all that I could for this great earth on which we all live.

Thank you to family for sharing this man.     

       

January snow/ice

October 20, 2012

As we all know the January snow and ice in Mich can be beautiful but also very very dangerous.  Stan as a FRIEND and kindred SPIRIT was asked to be the keynote speaker in Grand Rapids, Mich. enviromental-renewable energy forum sponsored by @ that time JORDAN ENERGY INST.  He was to share the podium with a former astronaut whose name escapes me now. This was CIRCA late 80's early 90's.  Not only was Stan and Iris VINTAGE Stan and Iris driving THEMSELVES from Eastern Mich to Grand Rapids in a terrible ice-snow storm to make a commitment and right on time(the trip took them 2-3 times it's normal duration) but again VINTAGE Stan and Iris they would not take an honorarium.  This man loved life/loved people/loved science and us ALL.. May you rest in peace Stan with Iris and some day we ALL hope to join you THERE!!!!!

October 20, 2012

Those of us who worked on amorphous semiconductors in the early days always knew that Stan had a unique genius.  He was able to intuit the relationships between chemical composition and electronic properties long before the physics community could work it out, and this allowed him to develop elemental combinations that were necessary for widley differing applications, such as optical memories and batteries.  

Because I began my education in chemistry, Stan and I had a common interest in these relationships and how they could be understood, and Stan took a strong interest in my career, even when I was still a graduate student, working with Hellmut Fritzsche at the U. of Chicago.  Later, when I became an assistant professor at MIT, Stan invited me to join David Adler several times in visits to ECD, where we discussed these mysteries of how changing the elements in an amorphous semiconductor could change its properties.  In 1976, when I had been at MIT for only three years, Stan invited Neville Mott and a small group of leaders of the field to a meeting at ECD.  I was by far the youngest of the group and no one but Stan would have included me in that august group.  But that meeting was a turning point in my life.  I had an idea there, which Hellmut, David Adler and I developed over the next couple of weeks, and which was a major reason for my earning tenure.  I know that I am just one of many whose careers were launched by Stan.  He was a generous friend, as well as a great scientist, and I will miss him greatly.

Physics journal issue dedicated to Stan

October 20, 2012


The scientific journal pss-b (physica status solidi (b) or Basic Solid State Physics) entitled Phase-change memory:  Science and applications, Special Issue dedicated to Stanford R. Ovshinsky on the occasion of his 90th birthday will be publshed in print in late October.  Dr. Alex Kolobov of  the Nanoelectronics Research Institute of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology in Japan was the guest editor of the issue. The entire issue is already available online at www.pss-b.com

The Preface to the issue is below: 

Phase-change memory: Science and applications Alexander V. Kolobov,  Mihai Popescu

Article first published online: 8 OCT 2012

DOI: 10.1002/pssb.201240936

Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Issue

physica status solidi (b)

Special Issue: Phase-change memory: Science and applications

Volume 249, Issue 10, pages 1824–1826, October 2012

To Stanford R. Ovshinsky, a brilliant scientist and a great inventor,

in honour of his pioneering contributions to the science and technology

of disordered materials and his compassion to create a better world

through science and technology

This issue is dedicated to Stanford Robert Ovshinsky, a pioneer of science and applications of disordered materials. Stan appreciated the importance of disordered materials in the mid 1950 s, when most scientists did not believe that amorphous semiconductors could exist. Being ahead of his time, he was often criticised for his novel ideas which were initially denigrated but later proved valid. In the late 1950 s–early 1960 s, Stan observed reversible switching phenomena in certain compositions of chalcogenide glasses which, depending on the composition of the material used, resulted in either a dynamic (threshold switch) or a stable (memory device) change in conductivity. This effect is now known as the Ovonic effect and the word Ovonics appears in many dictionaries. The Merriam–Webster dictionary defines Ovonics as a branch of electronics that deals with applications of the change from an electrically nonconducting state to a semiconducting state shown by glasses of special composition upon application of a certain minimum voltage.

The invention of the phase-change memory, which has been commercially implemented as re-writable optical discs such as digital versatile discs and is now the leading candidate to replace flash memory, is just one of Stan's numerous inventions. His other inventions that revolutionised our lives relate to flat-panel displays, hydrogen storage materials, thin-film solar cells and the nickel-metal hydride battery, to name a few. His current goal is to make solar power cheaper than coal.

It is astonishing that all this has been achieved by an individual without a university education. Or was it thanks to the absence of the established way of thinking that allowed him to see what others could not? Stan is often compared to Thomas Edison but this is only partially true. The great Nobelist I. I. Rabi said in an interview, which appeared in the Nova television program Japan's American Genius: “Stan is not an Edison; he is an Ovshinsky – a brilliant scientist!” What he meant was that Edison was usually considered as a great inventor, but not a scientist, Ovshinsky is both. As a brilliant scientist and a great inventor, he laid the grounds for important advances of science and technology of the 21st century.

Another fascinating thing about Stan is his charisma that attracts people into his sphere and leads to the establishment of life-long friendships. His continuous compassion to create a better society attracts not only scientists but people of different professions who share his great humanistic ideas. In his office at the Institute of Amorphous Studies that he founded back in the 1980 s, there are dozens of photographs of his numerous friends and admirers ranging from Nobel Prize winners to prominent political figures.

For the most part of Stan's life his closest friend was his wife Iris, the great woman next to the great man. After her tragic death in 2006, Stan is supported with dedication by Rosa Young, now Rosa Ovshinsky, without whom, Stan admits, he could not live further.

A person like Stan may be written about on hundreds of pages and his biography is yet to be published, but the space for this introduction is limited and we have to stop here. We would like to especially encourage the audience to read the two memoirs papers by Hellmut Fritzsche and Genie Mytilineou included in this issue that describe Stan's great personality (see pp. 1827–1834) , as knowing and understanding his way of life is crucial to appreciate fully his scientific and technological achievements.

Scientific papers in this issue are written by Stan's admirers and followers and represent the latest progress in the field of science and applications of amorphous chalcogenides. The issue sets in with the two already mentioned memoirs papers followed by a description of the Ovshinsky award for excellence in amorphous chalcogenides. The scientific part of the issue starts with Feature Articles by Noboru Yamada, Matthias Wuttig, and by J. Akola and R. O. Jones, describing recent progress in the physics and applications of phase-change materials. The subsequent part of the issue presents Original Papers on phase-change materials and on chalcogenide glasses, starting with basic research papers followed by the description of applied results, respectively. The authors address various aspects of the phase-change phenomenon such as the role of electronic excitation, the origin of the property contrast, and emerging topological insulator behaviour. Structure and properties of the disordered phase remain an important issue including such aspects as fragility of the liquid phase, crystallisation, and the local structure of Ge atoms. Local and global structures of the crystalline phase, including epitaxially grown layers and multilayered structures also continue to attract attention. Several papers are dedicated to threshold switching whose mechanism remains a matter of debate despite years of studies. On the application side, of special interest is the experimental demonstration that phase-change materials can be used for cognitive computing. Papers describing a successful use of phase-change alloys for PC-RAM devices, including the search for new materials, conclude this part of the issue. The remaining papers are devoted to chalcogenide glasses where structure and defects as well as photo-induced phenomena and Ag-diffusion are discussed. An interesting new application of chalcogenide glasses reported in this issue is their use for the photoalignment of liquid crystals using the effect of photo-induced anisotropy.

On behalf of all authors, we would like to use this occasion to wish Stan a happy 90-year birthday and many happy returns of the day, to express to him our sincere gratitude for his great contributions to the field, and wish him new achievements on his demanding and challenging road to better the world through science and technology.

 

Stan was a visionary

October 19, 2012

In 1976, my wife and I with two little girls (one was 4 years old and the other one 8 months) were lucky enough to get out of the Soviet Union. From our first Western city - Vienna - I wrote to Stan asking for a job. He helped find employment at Wayne State University and hired me as  a consultant. When we came to Detroit, Stan sent roses to my wife and took us to a theatre to see a visiting Broadway production - Fiddler-on-the-Roof. I remeber once working at ECD calculating the efficiency of a-Si solar cells. I estimated that the top efficiency will not exceed 2% and shared my findings with Stan. Stan replied that he understands how hard to work with limited resources and this is why I got such low estimate that is cearly wrong." In ten years from now, - he told me, - "there will a big factory across the road producting foot by foot square solar cells with effiency exceeding 8%." Needless to say, I was very sceptical. But in two years, ECD achieved 14% efficiency fro small cels and, a few years later, foot by foot square a-Si solar cells were produced in the factory across the ECD building. Stah was a true visionary.

October 19, 2012

I am married to Barney's son, Arthur and scanned these three photos on a recent visit with Fran in Los Angeles where she now resides. Barney died in 1985 of Alzheimer's disease.

October 19, 2012

~ This photograph is from the personal collection of family treasures kept by Barney Baranoff's wife, Frances (now Friedman). I am married to Barney's son, Arthur and scanned these three photos on a recent visit with Fran in Los Angeles where she now resides. Barney died in 1985 of Alzheimer's disease.

Stan & Barney

October 19, 2012

This photograph is from the personal collection of family treasures kept by Barney's wife, Frances Baranoff (now Friedman). I am married to Barney's son, Arthur and had occassion to scan these three photographs during a recent trip to visit Fran in Los Angeles where she now lives. Barney died in 1985 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.

Stan & Iris and Barney & Fran were fast friends as well as being involved in the Akron Workman's Circle together. Barney had this auto-parts shop (Exchange Auto Parts) on West Exchange Street in Akron and he thought Stan had great ideas so he gave Stan space in the original wooden barn on the property and then in the new concrete block building to work on this project which became the Benjamin Automatic.

Most folks knew Stan as an inventor and a brilliant man, in our family we acknowledge those things are true, but have always been proud to just called him "friend". Stan was a mench who, for decades, on May 1st (International Worker's Day) would send Art's mom a dozen roses.

~ May his death be for a blessing.

In love and with our condolences,

Susan and Arthur Baranoff on behalf of the entire Baranoff Family,

Akron, Ohio

Stan's Generous Nature

October 19, 2012

I met my wife, Karen (then known as Karen Crawford), in the late 70's when we were both employed at ECD.  When we decided to marry in the mid 80's, we thought that the perfect place to have our wedding reception was the Institute for Amorphous Studies.  When we asked Stan if we could rent the facility for the occasion, he agreed to let us use it, but would not accept any recompense.  Furthermore, he provided a crew to valet the vehicles and to clean up after the party. 

We will always be grateful to have been associated with him, and will keep a warm spot in our hearts for his memory.

Irving Rosenstein

 

October 19, 2012

1978: Prof. Mott serves chanpane from the huge bottle that Stan sent to Cambridge for the selebration of his Nobel price.

I was first year gratuate student at the Cavendish laboratory, Cambridge, UK, when Prof. Mott won the Nobel price.
This champane bottle was my first indirect contact with the legend called "Stan Ovshinsky". A Great man and very sincere friend. I will miss you a lot.

from Joi Ito

October 19, 2012

"We all owe Stan our identity and our lives. However, I don't think Stan would want us to think about owing Stan and returning a debt to Stan. Stan was trying to change the world and I think Stan would want us amplify his gifts to the world and take everything he gave us to have a positive impact on the world. Stan's inventions made it possible to generate energy from the sun. I feel that we are also energy conversion beings, taking his energy and amplifying and sharing it with the rest of the world to make it warmer and more brilliant."

Grandpa

October 18, 2012

Many of you knew Stan as an amazing scientist, inventor, friend, employer, or colleague.  I had the honor of knowing Stan Ovshinsky as “grandpa” for the last 38 years.  Grandpa loved to spend time outside with us going on walks or swimming in the lake and pool.  Grandpa let us buy as many books in the book store as we wanted.  Grandpa never said no to extra dessert.  In fact, he often joined us in that second serving of Haagen Dazs or apple tart.  Grandpa made a toast at every meal.  It might just have been a simple Tuesday night meal, but we always had a toast.  Grandpa showed us that if you have a dream, you can chase it no matter what.  It’s hard to reflect upon grandpa without thinking of my nana (Iris). What an amazing woman she was.   They both have a very special place in my heart and always will.

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