Dimitri Stein

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Dimitri R. Stein (born January 24, 1920 in Petrograd ; died October 27, 2018 ) was an American engineer.

biography

Stein, the son of a Jewish father, fled to Germany with his family at the age of five months after the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War . As a “ stateless person ” he was not affected by the “ Law against Overcrowding in German Schools and Universities ”, he was able to start studying electrical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin in 1938 . In 1942 he acquired the title of graduate engineer and began writing his dissertation on the basis of the thesis . After he had submitted this in 1943, he was told that he was a " 1st degree hybrid " and would therefore not be admitted to the doctorate . From 1944 Stein was kept hidden from the Gestapo by his scientific advisor Alfred Dennhardt until the end of the Second World War in Lower Bavaria .

In 1946, Stein and business partners founded Nordwind GmbH in Porta Westfalica . Shortly afterwards, the company was commissioned to erect a wind turbine on the Neuwerk island, which belongs to Hamburg . This first German wind turbine had three wind blades, which gave the rotor a diameter of 15 meters and were attached to a 20 meter high mast. Behind the main rotor there was an auxiliary motor for setting the optimal position in the wind.

In 1947 Stein emigrated to the United States . There he first pursued an academic career at North Dakota State University in Fargo , before moving to the City College of New York . In New York City he also met his future wife Sophie, a Berlin- based simultaneous interpreter for the United Nations . From 1952 he headed the American agency of the cable manufacturer Hackethal (merged with Nexans ). In this function, he negotiated license agreement texts with the Soviet Union , which subsequently served as a model for all license agreements with Western companies. In 1962 he was at Hackethal for attorney promoted and director. Stein made a name for himself in the transatlantic transfer of knowledge and technology in many ways. With his company Cable Consultants Corporation , founded in 1962, he passed on European know-how in the field of electrical engineering to American companies. He acted as a representative for the Gmelin Institute , whose “ handbook ” was in high demand on the US market, promoting the exchange and distribution of technological developments and research results. Under the name Science Information Service, Inc. he headed the office of the Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe in the United States.

2006 stepped stone German friend and business partner Gerhard Ziemek at the Technical University of Berlin approach to rehabilitation of prevented doctor encouraging. Stein, who initially had doubts about Ziemek's advance, had already made a corresponding request in the 1950s, but after a negative answer, let the subject rest. Half a century later, however, the management of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science was concerned and offered Stein to do his doctorate, which he then agreed. The content of the dissertation, which has since been lost, could be traced back to an article published in the magazine “ Elektro Nachrichten-Technik” in 1943 ; After successfully defending his work, the 88-year-old Stein received his doctoral certificate from University President Kurt Kutzler on November 12, 2008 , with which he became a Dr.-Ing. advanced.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Stein, Dimitri
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stein, Dimitri R.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION american engineer
DATE OF BIRTH January 24, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Petrograd
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 2018