In Memoriam: The World Business Academy will miss our dear friend and colleague, Max Goldberger, who passed away in early March 2012 at the age of 88. We will remember him always as a brilliant, warm, and witty person whose life enriched all who knew him.
Max Goldberger was a brilliant physicist who worked on clean energy technology. Max grew up in a small Transylvanian village in Romania. At 18, he was sent to a Nazi concentration camp where he spent 3 ½ years, surviving using his extraordinary facility for languages and technology.
After the war, he worked on telecommunications research and development for the Romanian government, rising to a level equivalent to a brigadier. He escaped to the West on a trip to East Berlin and made his way to the U.S. There, he became a citizen and a renowned pioneer of advanced missile and rocket science, working with the Navy at China Lake.
Goldberger served as the director of research and vice president at Pioneer Research, Inc., a company that developed a 100-watt commercial model of a hydrazine fuel cell.
In 1972, Max Goldberger was granted U.S. Patent No. 3,673,801 for a “Propulsion Method Using Catalytic Decomposition of Hydrazine.” This patent outlines a method where hydrazine fuel is decomposed using a catalyst composed of solid porous Raney cobalt.
In the early 1970s, Goldberger collaborated with the Philippine government under President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to develop indigenous rocket and fuel cell technologies. He proposed setting up a production laboratory at Sangley Point and utilizing the Philippine Navy’s machine shops in Cavite City for tooling. His involvement was part of a broader initiative to enhance the country’s self-reliant defense posture.
Describing Max’s career, the Navy wrote: “His work on exotic fuels led him to champion environmentally clean energy. His international reputation led to projects for Zambia, Uganda, the Philippines, Taiwan, Somalia, Jordan, and the King of Thailand.”
Max eventually moved to Hilo, where he continued his pioneering work. He collaborated with the Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council (HCEOC) to develop a Concentrator Photovoltaic Solar Generator. This system utilized high-efficiency triple-junction solar cells, Fresnel lenses, and a sun-tracking mechanism to generate both electricity and hot water, aiming to reduce household energy costs and promote sustainable living.
In 2008, Goldberger played a key role in an HCEOC project that received a $686,000 federal grant to develop a hybrid alternative energy generator. This generator combined solar power with biomass energy sources, such as eucalyptus wood, and incorporated heat-absorbing vacuum tubes. The project also focused on workforce development by training unemployed workers in constructing and maintaining alternative energy systems.
Goldberger’s contributions to clean energy in Hawai‘i were acknowledged by Earl Bakken, founder of Medtronic, during a 2004 commencement address at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. Bakken highlighted Goldberger as an alternative energy expert working alongside other notable scientists to bring major advances to the island.
