Ulrich Steinhilper (14 September 1918 – 20 October 2009) was a World War II Luftwaffe fighter ace who made numerous attempts to escape after he was shot down and captured.

[2] Steinhilper learned that he was supposed to provide pilots with ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communications using two 1.5 kilowatt radio stations and two field telephone units.

[2] He tried hard to promote the use of radios, but most pilots were against the idea, among them Galland, considering the equipment an unnecessary additional weight and the concept a waste of their time.

[2] Steinhilper managed to demonstrate the advantages during a large training exercise commanded by General Hugo Sperrle involving a simulated bombing attack on Stuttgart, only to have the results dismissed by Galland and ignored by the rest.

[8] (The "substantial remains" of Oberleutnant Steinhilper's Bf 109E were recovered in 1980 and are displayed in the Dowding Memorial Hangar of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum.

[1][15][17] However, Thomas Haig, an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee's School of Information Studies, wrote in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing that the English term preceded the German, though he conceded that the latter "was the first to achieve any currency".

[17] In 1971, when the idea finally began to be accepted, IBM gave him an Outstanding Achievement Award and a trip around the world in recognition of "having authored and promoted it.