Marcel Kiepach (12 February 1894 – 12 August 1915) was an
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
who was a subject of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Croatian ethnicity. The works and inventions of this
child prodigy
A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...
belong to the areas of
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
,
magnetism
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...
,
acoustics
Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
, transmission of sound
signals
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, and
transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
s.
Marcel was born in
Križevci
Križevci (; la, Crisium; hu, Kőrös ; german: Kreutz ) is a city in central Croatia with a total population of 21,122 and with 11,231 in the city itself (2011), the oldest city in its county, the Koprivnica-Križevci County.
History
The f ...
as a descendant of the
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Great B ...
family Kiepach, which came to Križevci in the early 19th century and became influential in the town. He studied economics in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and electrical engineering in
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
.
In Berlin on 16 March 1910, as a boy of sixteen, Marcel
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
ed a maritime
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
that indicates north regardless of the presence of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
or
magnetic force
In physics (specifically in electromagnetism) the Lorentz force (or electromagnetic force) is the combination of electric and magnetic force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. A particle of charge moving with a velocity in an elect ...
s. He patented an improved version in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 20 December 1911. This second version was a remote maritime compass device, consisting of
ampermeters as the indicating instruments located in different parts of the ship, resistant to magnetic forces or magnetic masses in their vicinity.
In France, he patented a
dynamo
file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...
for vehicle lighting. It was an electric
generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
combined with the mechanical drive of the vehicle itself. His "small transformer" for
low voltage In electrical engineering, low voltage is a relative term, the definition varying by context. Different definitions are used in electric power transmission and distribution, compared with electronics design. electrical safety codes define "low vo ...
was widely implemented according to the "Kiepach-Weiland System". He also patented a power switch. He was active in various other areas of mechanics and electronics. He held correspondence with famous world scientists and inventors.
When
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out, Kiepach volunteered. He died at the Russian front when he was 21. His remains were brought to Križevci in 1917, where they were laid in the family tomb in the Town Cemetery.
His two patents were included in the big exhibition ''Centuries of Natural Science in Croatia: Theory and Application'' (June–October 1996, Klovićevi Dvori Gallery). Prof. Vladimir Muljević lectured about his work at the 4th international symposium on new technologies 1993. Today, Križevci have the Marcel Kiepach Innovation Society. The town museum keeps many of his documents and family photographs. In 2004, Križevci held an exhibition about the Kiepach family.
External links
In Croatian:
Marcel Kiepach in the Town Museum of KriževciKriževci.eu – Marcel pl. Kiepach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiepach, Marcel
1894 births
1915 deaths
Inventors from Austria-Hungary
People from Križevci
20th-century inventors
Austro-Hungarian military personnel killed in World War I
Expatriates from Austria-Hungary in Germany