Robert Franz Schiffmann (February 11, 1935 – September 4, 2021) was an American inventor and writer.

Biography

Schiffmann was born on February 11, 1935 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, to Franz Schiffmann, a

tool and die maker Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing, manufacturing industries. Tool and die makers work primarily in toolroom environments—sometimes literally in one room but more often in an environment with flexible, ...

, and Sophie (Bolling) Schiffmann, a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

. He grew up in a brownstone on West 88th Street, which he later transformed into his primary research lab. Schiffmann obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1955 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in analytical science and

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1959.

Career

Schiffmann began his career at DCA Food Industries in 1961, where he experimented with microwaves and invented large microwave doughnut fryers. He later worked at Bedrosian & Associates, focusing on consumer food product development. In 1978, Schiffmann founded R.F. Schiffmann & Associates, contributing to advancements in

microwave oven A microwave oven, or simply microwave, is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces Dipole#Molecular dipoles, polar molecules in the food to rotate and ...

food preparation {{catexp, articles about specific foodstuffs. See :Food and drink for more general topics relating to food. Food watchlist articles ...

, and safety standards. He also served as president of the International Microwave Power Institute. During his career, Schiffmann developed numerous applications, including the Micro Cuisine, a specialized dish for improved microwave cooking, and contributed to the Half Time Oven, which combined microwave and conventional heating elements to reduce cooking times. His work also encompassed medical and dental tool sterilization and plasma warming techniques. Schiffmann was also on

Quora Quora is an American social question-and-answer website and online knowledge market headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was founded on June 25, 2009, and made available to the public on June 21, 2010. Users can post questions, answ ...

as a writer.

Awards and recognition

* Fellow of the International Microwave Power Institute * Metaxas Microwave Pioneer Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiffmann, Robert 1935 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American inventors Columbia University alumni Purdue University alumni