The ICT technology was adopted by several successor firms, including Cryovac, Vivirad, Nissin-High Voltage, and Wasik Associates
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Robert Jemison Van de Graaff was an American applied physicist and inventor. He is best known for developing the Van de Graaff generator, a high-voltage electrostatic machine that became a fundamental tool in nuclear physics research.
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science · American physicist (1901–1967) · physicist · university teacher · also Robert J. Van de Graaff, Robert Jemison Van de Graaff, Graaff
Born 20 December 1901 · Died 16 January 1967 · Q116879
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The ICT technology was adopted by several successor firms, including Cryovac, Vivirad, Nissin-High Voltage, and Wasik Associates
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Died 1967-01-16.
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At the dedication of the MP tandem accelerator at Yale University's Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory
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Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics (1966).
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For his contributions to electrostatic accelerator development
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Van de Graaff resigned from MIT to become HVEC's full-time Chief Scientist
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Use charge-exchange to multiply particle energy: negative ions are accelerated toward a positive high-voltage terminal, stripped of electrons to become positive ions, and then accelerated again as they exit
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The Chalk River Laboratories ordered the first commercially produced tandem accelerator, the EN tandem
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Won Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize (1947).
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A 2 MV machine originally destined for a Philadelphia hospital was requisitioned for the Manhattan Project and sent to Chicago for Enrico Fermi's work on the nuclear pile
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Harvard's Huntington Memorial Hospital approved construction of a mega-volt X-ray generator for cancer treatment, the first use of an electrostatic accelerator in clinical medicine
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Won Elliott Cresson Medal (1936).
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Van de Graaff married Catherine Boyden
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Round Hill closed, and the generator was moved to the MIT campus in 1937, where it was completely redesigned
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Van de Graaff received a patent for his electrostatic generator, following what he described as "an arduous but effective siege of writing" with guidance from Vannevar Bush
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Van de Graaff was appointed Associate Professor of Physics at MIT, a position he held until 1960
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The first full-scale test produced sparks 12 m (40 ft) long for an audience of scientists and journalists
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Among Princeton, MIT, and the National Research Council to secure clear title to his patents
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Considered funding MIT $250,000 to develop the technology
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While the Round Hill generator was still under construction
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After a sleepless night and many preliminary drafts, Van de Graaff wrote to Compton outlining his vision for the scientific applications of his generator
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More than twice the highest direct current voltage previously achieved
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Arranged for Van de Graaff to join MIT as a research associate in 1931
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Using a tin can, a silk ribbon, and a small motor
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Shared a room for a week at Leiden University with J
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Awarded Rhodes Scholarship (1925).
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Van de Graaff won a Rhodes Scholarship to The Queen's College at the University of Oxford
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At the Jemison–Van de Graaff Mansion in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the youngest of four sons of Adrian Sebastian Van de Graaff and Minnie Cherokee Jemison
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Born 1901-12-20.
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