Joseph Gerber
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H. Joseph Gerber (1924 – 1996) was the founder of the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company.
Born in Austria in 1924, H. Joseph Gerber showed an early fascination with technology. By the age of eight, he was building radios and circuit breakers. Seven years later, along with many others affected by the Nazi occupation, he was imprisoned in a labor camp, and in 1940, he and his mother fled war-torn Austria, immigrating to the United States. After completing high school in just two years, he entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1946.
In his junior year at RPI, Gerber's life took a major turn with his invention of the Gerber Variable Scale. With the Variable Scale as his first manufactured product and a $3,000 investment, The Gerber Scientific Instrument Company was born.
In the early days of the company, Gerber invented a variety of manual graphical numerical data reduction systems as well as devised, patented, and co-patented the first digital drafting machine, computer-aided photoplotting system for printed circuit boards, and various robotic cutting and computer-controlled sewing systems.
In the next 50 years, Gerber presided over the expansion of Gerber Scientific, Inc., which was renamed to reflect the company's growth. Gerber is credited with 677 U.S. and foreign patents for his inventions. Several of his inventions are on display at the Smithsonian Institution. He is a recipient of the National Medal of Technology in 1994 [1] among other awards.
H. Joseph Gerber died in August 1996. He was inducted into RPI's alumni hall of fame in 1998.
