Joseph Engelberger

Engelberger, Joseph F.
Joseph F. Engelberger passed away peacefully at his home, 53 Hundred Acres Road, Newtown, CT on Tuesday, December 1, 2015. Joe was born in Brooklyn, NY on July 26, 1925, son of the late Joseph H. Engelberger and Irene Kolb. A graduate of Bassick High School class of 1943, Bridgeport, CT, Engelberger went on to earn a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University. Early in his professional career, he served as chief engineer at Manning, Maxwell and Moore. Engelberger left MM&M to form his own company, Consolidated Controls Corporation.
In 1956 Joe met inventor George Devol and the industrial robot's first spark was ignited. Hearing about Devol's recently patented Programmable Article Transfer, Joe, inspired by Isaac Asimov's robot stories, immediately grasped the potential for factory floor automation and Unimation, Inc., the world's first industrial robot company was born. The very first installation was for a die-casting application at a General Motors plant in 1961. The technology was later developed by factories worldwide, transforming modern manufacturing processes.
As founder and president, Joe grew Unimation into a company with more than 1,000 employees before it was acquired by Westinghouse Electric. Engelberger was also the founder of HelpMate Robotics Inc., which was later acquired by Cardinal Health. Engelberger's industrial applications fundamentally changed the automotive manufacturing sector, introducing robotics that enabled carmakers to achieve greater efficiency and precision with the use of robotic arms on assembly lines. The innovations Engelberger introduced were a major factor in the rise of the Japanese auto industry, where the use of robotics was enthusiastically embraced in the post-war era. In 1984, Joe turned his focus to robotic applications in the service sector of the economy. He founded Transitions Research Corporation which later became HelpMate Robotics, Inc. The company's flagship product was the HelpMate, an autonomous material transport designed to transport materials and supplies. Over 100 hospitals in the US and Europe employed HelpMates. Engelberger was a tireless advocate for robotics. In addition to his groundbreaking work, he testified before congressional committees, briefed world leaders, authored books, published articles and gave media interviews to advance the cause of scientific research and encourage application of robotics in industry, space exploration and daily life. Engelberger was inducted into the Manufacturer's Hall of Fame in 2009. The Robotics Industries Association named its prestigious annual award the Joseph F. Engelberger Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of robotics. Other honors Engelberger received over the course of his career include induction into the National Academy of Engineering and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Engelberger was profiled in the London Sunday Times as one of the "1000 Makers of the Twentieth Century" and received honorary doctorates from the University of Bridgeport, Briarwood College, Spring Garden College, Trinity College, and Carnegie Mellon University. He won numerous major awards honoring his pioneering efforts in the field of robots, including the Society of Manufacturing Engineer's Progress Award, the Nyselius Award from the American Die Casting Institute, the Leonardo da Vinci Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Machinist Award, the Golden Omega Award at the Electrical Electronics Insulation Conference, the McKechnie Award from the University of Liverpool, the Egleston Medal from Columbia University, the Beckman Award at the LabAutomation Conference, and The Japan Prize, the honor he was most proud of. As he recently told a reporter what his fondest memories are, Joe responded, "I never look back. I'm always thinking about the future. That's the way an inventor's mind works. You're too busy thinking about the next thing. You should always look to the future. It's what matters. "Joe was predeceased by his wife, Marge Engelberger, in 2007, and his brother John Engelberger, in 2015. He is survived by his daughter Gay Engelberger and her husband Kevin McNally, son Jeff Engelberger, grandson Ian Engelberger and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services are private.There are no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Regional Hospice and Home Care, 30 Milestone Road, Danbury, CT 06810, (203) 702 7400, www.regionalhospicect.org. The Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown is serving the family. To leave an online condolence visit www.honanfh.com