Walter Brenner (July 21, 1923 – December 6, 2017) was an Austrian-American professor of chemical engineering and inventor. He also authored a number of patents, technical papers, magazine articles, and books. Brenner is recognized as having pioneered the development of high energy ionizing radiation for polymers to be used for industrial, aerospace, medical, and consumer applications.[citation needed][1][2][3] He died in December 2017 at the age of 94.[4][5]
Early life and education
Brenner was born in Vienna, Austria, in July 1923.
In 1943, Brenner served in the U.S. military, achieving the rank of technical sergeant and remained in the service until 1945. When he completed his service in the military, Brenner attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn where he earned his Master's degree (1949) and later his doctorate (1954) in chemical engineering studying under the renowned Donald Othmer.
Career
Brenner served as a full professor at New York University for over 25 years teaching chemical engineering. He taught in the uptown Bronx campus and later in the downtown Greenwich Village campus. Brenner's expertise led him to become a consultant working for many different companies, institutions, branches of the government and military over his professional career.[7][8][9][10][11]
In 1976, Brenner and his son James co-founded a polymer formulation company called Master Bond Inc.[12] Brenner developed specialty systems including adhesives, sealants, coatings, and encapsulants that are primarily epoxy-based. Additionally, Master Bond produces silicone, polysulfide, polyurethane, and UV light curing systems.
Rudolph Vermes, Walter Brenner. Radiation Crosslinking of some New Ethylene Copolymers. In: Irradiation of Polymers, edited by Robert F. Gould. Advances in Chemistry, Vol. 66. Chapter 11, pp 156–169. American Chemical Society, 1967.
Walter Brenner, R. F. Shaffer, R. Vermes, Charles Marsel, William H. Kapfer. Nucleation Phenomena In Polymers. Defense Technical Information Center, 1968.
Walter Brenner. Recent Developments in Polymer Catalysis This paper was presented at a meeting of the Section of Catalysis on March 11, 1971. Published in: Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 33, Issue 7 Series II, pages 710–723, November 1971.
^Walter Brenner, R. F. Shaffer, R. Vermes, Charles Marsel, William H. Kapfer. Nucleation Phenomena In Polymers Defense Technical Information Center, 1968, 216 p. Contributor: New York University, New York Research Division
^D.D.S. Form 1 Registration Card (World War II Draft Card).
^Vermes, Rudolph; Brenner, Walter (1967). "Radiation Crosslinking of Some New Ethylene Copolymers". Irradiation of Polymers. Advances in Chemistry. Vol. 66. pp. 156–169. doi:10.1021/ba-1967-0066.ch011. ISBN978-0-8412-0067-8.
