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Ernst Heinrich Weber
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born Sept. 6, 1901, Vienna, Austria
died Feb. 15, 1996, Columbus, N.C., U.S.
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| Austrian-born American engineer who was a pioneer
in the development of microwave communications equipment and
who oversaw the growth of the Polytechnic Institute in New
York City.
Weber was educated in Austria and worked in Vienna and
Berlin as a research engineer (1924–30) before visiting
the United States, where he decided to remain. In 1930 he
became a visiting professor at the Polytechnic Institute
of Brooklyn (now Polytechnic University) in New York City,
where he rose through various academic posts to become head
of research and graduate study in electrical engineering
(1942–45). He was afterward director of the Microwave
Research Institute (1945–57) and its vice president
for research (1957–63). He served as president of the
Polytechnic Institute from 1958 to 1969 and president emeritus
from 1969. He helped transform the Polytechnic Institute
into one of the nation's leading science and engineering
centres.
Invited to join the government-sponsored Office of Scientific
Research and Development at the beginning of World War II,
Weber chose to study the little-explored but highly important
field of microwave technology. With his associates, he developed
a device for precise control of microwaves that proved useful
in field tests of radar and built microwave measuring equipment.
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