BENO STERNLICHT (1928-2012)

BY ROGER R. SCHMIDT, AARON STERNLICHT,
AND JOSHUA STERNLICHT

BENO STERNLICHT published extensively, showing his leadership in the field of modern lubrication theory involving fluid mechanics. In addition, he gave the name to the area of elastohydrodynamic lubrication. As founder and technical director, he grew his small private company, Mechanical Technology Inc., into a trusted leader of measuring and testing instruments. He passed away at age 84 on May 6, 2012, in Schenectady, New York.

Beno was born in Nowy Sacz, Poland, in 1928, the son of Hugo and Helena Anisfeld Sternlicht. Beno’s mother was killed in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. He and his father became refugees, fleeing the Nazi occupation and traveling through Russia, Turkey, and British-occupied Palestine where they were jailed for six months for being in the country illegally. They eventually settled in India, a country that spiritually touched Beno. “He always said you have to travel to India in order to live life,” his wife, Lisa, recalled.

He went to Schenectady with no more than $100 in his pocket and a desire to attend Union College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Union College in 1950 and then completed a doctorate in energy conversion at Columbia University in 1954.

Following his education, he founded several companies. He had been a manager at the General Electric (GE) Company, heavily involved in guiding and financing startup companies. He left GE in 1961 and cofounded with Harry Apkarian Mechanical Technology Inc. (MTI), which manufactures testing and measuring instruments. He served as the company’s technical director and chairman of the board. In 1997 Beno, in conjunction with MTI and DTE Energy, assisted in the launch of the fuel cell manufacturing company Plug Power Inc., based in Latham, New York, where he served as advisor for many years. He served on the micro fuel cell developer’s board of directors until his retirement in 2005 but remained active in business up until the last months of his life. He also served as chairman of the Comfortex Corp.

Beno pioneered the development of gas-bearing technology and its successful use in turbomachinery. In this regard, he is credited for the first U.S. gas-bearing compressor for nuclear applications and the world’s first Brayton cycle closed-loop gas-bearing turbomachinery. He also led the development of low-temperature energy recovery systems and energy-efficient propulsion systems.

When focused, he seemed to block out nearly all external stimuli. This concentration led to some of his greatest successes as an entrepreneur, but sometimes also landed him in some strange situations. Such was the case years ago when Beno was catching a red-eye flight home to Niskayuna from a conference in Denver. An avid skier, he decided to catch a few runs at an area mountain before departing and was still wearing his ski garb when he landed in Chicago to catch a connecting flight into Albany. Beno used the time between flights to catch up on work and was on the phone when a gate change was announced. So focused on work, he never heard that his flight was boarding elsewhere. He got on the flight without a second thought. During takeoff, the pilot chimed in about the airplane’s destination. “That’s when he heard the pilot announce they were going to Acapulco,” recalled his wife, Lisa. Beno ended up marooned in the tropical resort city with nothing to wear but his ski clothing. After a day spent in the air terminal, he sheepishly worked his way back to the Capital Region. “That’s the type of man he was,” she said. “If he was zeroed in on something, he was completely oblivious to everything else around him.”

He was an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and a philanthropist who never forgot his roots as a Holocaust survivor. He and Lisa created the Lisben fund, which supports a variety of educational causes. He also founded Volunteers in Technical Assistance, a nonprofit organization that has provided technological and engineering assistance to developing countries for four decades. He served as its president and board chairman from 1969 to 1971. After his retirement from MTI, Beno remained active in business, participating in the running of businesses, including his own New York City-based real estate company, Benjosh Management Associates, as well as a Russian-based luxury furniture company, Arben International. He also mentored entrepreneurs locally as well as abroad —for example, in Israel. He was honored by the Schenectady B’nai B’rith’s Service Award in 2011 and received the Machine Design Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1966. He was an American Society of Mechanical Engineers fellow and was granted an honorary doctorate from Union College in 1979. He was a devoted advocate for the adoption of Stirling external combustion engine technology, which he saw as a solution to the global energy crisis.

A world traveler, Beno had a passion for art, fine dining, and international travel and was intensely interested in other people. For many years, he was an avid skier. He held several patents and co-authored with Oscar Pinkus the book Theory of Hydrodynamic Lubrication (McGraw-Hill 1961). He was an adviser in the Carter and Reagan administrations and chairman of the NASA Committee on Space Power and Propulsion from 1972 to 1975. He also served as an advisor on energy issues to Israel, the People’s Republic of China, and India.

Friends and family recalled him as an innovator whose passion for his work was only equaled by his love for family. His greatest achievement was his tireless dedication to his family, recalled Aaron Sternlicht, the youngest of his two sons. No matter where his travels took him, Beno always kept tabs on his family and never seemed far away. “He was always there for me no matter what I needed,” he said.

Beno is survived by his wife of 37 years, Lisa, and sons Aaron and Joshua. He also leaves extended family and friends throughout the world. In May 2023 his family established “The Beno Sternlicht Fund for Student Learning in Innovation” at Union College in his memory. The fund will help biomedical engineering students pursue innovation through a clinical immersion program.