Many people are part of the history of the International Microwave Power Institute (IMPI): Founders, board, and general members, as well as speakers, and paper authors, among others. They have often been recognized at openings, banquet speeches, and in written documents, while as a matter of contemporaneity we had the opportunity to meet at least a few of them. One of those important members was Robert F. Schiffmann, who passed away last September 4th.
Bob Schiffmann was a microwave scientist, expert, and consultant, who was passionate about microwave issues in pharmaceutical, medical, chemical, food, and other industries. He attended an IMPI meeting for the first time in 1968 in Boston and became an active member, serving in different positions such as Board Member, Associated Editor, Advisory Board, President, and Fellow of IMPI. Besides his role at IMPI, he was Honorary Member of the Microwave Technology Association UK, Member of the Consultants Council of American Packaging Institute, Emeritus Member of the Institute of Food Technologists, Certified Food Scientist-Institute of Food Technologists, Vice President of the Microwave Working Group, Founding Member of the Association for Microwave Power in Europe for Research and Education (AMPERE), Emeritus Member of the Institute of Packaging Professionals, Honorary Professor of the Kunming University of Science and Technology in China. He was also a frequent lecturer at the Chinese Association of Microwave Power Applications and the Japan Society of Electromagnetic Wave Energy Applications.
Bob had a kind of 3D talk, it was easy to imagine what he described, either an anecdote of his experience as an expert witness in microwave-related suits or the description of the microwave oven where he used to heat his lunches in the early sixties. I believe that he was aware of such skills while clarified that the oven that he was describing was a monstrosity in size only, indeed he was fascinated with it. He liked teaching about microwaves with the highest respect. His willingness to give courses, write books, register patents, and answering questions on social media is a proof of such interest. He also liked to learn; we witnessed his curiosity and attentiveness with direct yet polite questions to conference speakers and colleagues. This fits with something that he wrote as Guest Editor of the Journal of the Microwave Power (the first name of this journal) in 1973 when he mentioned that he thought about material that was both provocative and informative.
He dedicated his life to working in microwave power for industrial and consumer applications; he was the first recipient of the Metaxas Microwave Pioneer Award (2012) and the AMPERE Gold Medal (2019) for lifetime achievements in microwave technology. Bob was exceptional at inspiring people with great confidence, heading his last IMPI Board meeting just a few days before his death. Perhaps that helps on this moment of mourn, remembering the thoughts of Bob exemplified in his opening speech of the 1979 IMPI Conference: ‘… for me, IMPI has been a large part of the world and it is a lot of fun. I am hopeful that its impact in the world will continue to grow and in that sense provide fun to all of us’.
Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, San Nicolás de los Garza, NL, México
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