Finding Aid for the Hyman A. Steinberg Collection (#2018-0011)

Abstract

Hyman Abraham Steinberg (who went by “Hy”) was born in New York City to a Jewish family on December 15, 1925. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1944-1946 as a Radioman 2nd Class at the U.S. Naval Mine Depot in Yorktown, Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Art and Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1950 and 1951, respectively. In 1951, Steinberg worked as the junior architect for the New York City Public Works Department. Then, Steinberg worked at New York University’s Research Division as an engineering scientist from 1951-1955, where he co-developed the first engineered solar oven. He next worked as an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, from 1955-1958. Steinberg worked from 1967 to 1971 as an engineering specialist for Catalytic-Dow, Saturn 5 systems at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He also worked on the Apollo 8 program. From 1955 to 1980, Steinberg received 14 U.S Patents for Solar-Thermal energy conversion. In his career, he received 20 patents for his own inventions. Some of his best-known inventions today are the solar energy grill, inner channel hearing aid, and rotary electric shaver. Steinberg then worked as a real estate investor, architectural consultant, artist, and inventor until his death on February 12, 2016. This collection contains writings, invention materials, photographs, and publications related to the life and career of Hyman A. Steinberg’s career at NASA that impacted human space flight. Most of the materials date from 1967 to 1973, though there are materials from Steinberg’s later independent consultancy with NASA while not a full-time employee.