Vale Robert Adler, 1913-2007 - TV Remote Control Co-Inventor

During World War II, Dr. Adler worked on high-frequency magnetostrictive oscillators for use in Armed Forces communications equipment. His early work on electromechanical filters paved the way for the development of the highly compact filters widely used in aircraft receivers after the war. In the mid- 60s, he suggested the use of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in intermediate frequency filters for color televisions sets, a technology that has since become universal, not only in television but as an essential building block of cellular telephone handsets.

Dr. Adler also pioneered the use of SAW technology for touch screens. Touch screens employing principles he originated are now in widespread use in airport kiosks and in museums such as the Holocaust Museum in Washington, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the San Jose (Calif.) Technology Museum, among others. Since the early 1990s, as a consultant to Elo TouchSystems, Dr. Adler actively contributed to the commercialization and further innovation of his SAW touch screen invention.

In 1951, Dr. Adler became a Fellow of the IEEE, a professional honor which is conferred by the Institute's board of directors solely on the basis of "eminence and distinguished service." He was cited for his "developments of transmission and detection devices for frequency-modulated signals and of electromechanical filter systems."

Dr. Adler received the 1967 Inventor-of-the-Year Award from George Washington University's Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Institute for his inventions in the field of electronic products, devices and systems used in aircraft communications, radar, TV receivers and FM broadcasting.

He received the Consumer Electronics Outstanding Achievement Award in 1970 from the IEEE. This award is made annually to an engineer who has contributed significantly toward the advancement of consumer electronics through engineering achievements.

Dr. Adler also received the IEEE 1974 Outstanding Technical Paper Award for his report on "An Optical Video Disc Player," representing early work in what was to become the digital video disc or DVD. His other IEEE awards include the Edison Medal in 1980 and the Sonics and Ultrasonics Achievement Award in 1981. The Edison Medal is the principal annual award of the IEEE and is presented for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering, or the electrical arts.

Together with Polley, he was honored in 1997 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with an Emmy award for Zenith's introduction of the first wireless TV remote controls 50 years ago. He was a charter inductee in the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame in 2000. Dr. Adler was a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Born in Vienna, Austria on Dec. 4, 1913, Dr. Adler emigrated to the United States, settling in the Chicago area in 1941, when he joined Zenith. He lived on Chicago's North Shore for six decades, more than 50 years in Northfield, Ill., and in Northbrook, Ill., since 1998.

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