Jacob Rabinow

He made many developments there, mainly in defense systems, and eventually became Chief of the Electro-Mechanical Ordnance Division at NBS before leaving in 1954 to form his own company.

Among them are the first disc-shaped magnetic storage media for computers (1954), the magnetic particle clutch (1956), the first straight-line phonograph (1959), the first self-regulating clock (1960) and his famous "reading machine" (1960) which was the first to use the "best match" principle and was the basis for the reading, sorting and processing machines used today by banks and post offices.

In addition to his patents, Jacob Rabinow was awarded many other merits for his scientific achievements.

He also delivered many speeches and lectures on inventions and technology, as a guest at many educational institutions and on several television and radio shows.

The Jacob Rabinow Applied Research Award was created by the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST) and first presented in 1975 for outstanding achievements in the practical application of the results of scientific or engineering research.