Roland Winston

At the beginning of World War 2, after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Roland's father was expelled from the USSR, leaving his wife and son behind.

In 1943, young Roland and his mother, that had been evacuated to Kuibyshev (now Samara), managed to leave the USSR with the help of American authorities and US Air Force long-range bombers.

In the USA, Winston first attended the Bronx High School of Science [6] and then enrolled as an early entrant at Shimer College in 1950, transferring to the University of Chicago after two years.

"[10] Winston initially developed the underlying concept of the CPC for use in the study of Cherenkov radiation while working at Argonne National Laboratory in 1966.

[2][11] He was prompted to invent the CPC several years later in 1974, when Argonne director Robert Sachs asked him if it would be possible to extend the parabolic approach to solar energy applications, and if so, whether it would be superior to the existing systems that used imaging optics.

[2] In addition, CPCs received considerable media attention for their ability to function even under heavily clouded and hazy skies.

[16] Winston and Joseph O'Gallagher devised a more refined version of the CPC in 1982, which was smaller and eliminated the need for an extra layer of glass.