Rudolf Kompfner
Rudolf Kompfner (May 16, 1909 – December 3, 1977) was an Austrian-born inventor, physicist and architect, best known as the inventor of the traveling-wave tube (TWT).
Also recorded as R. Kompfner
Rudolf Kompfner
- Name
- Rudolf Kompfner
- Born
- 16 May 1909
- Birthplace
- Vienna, Austria
- Died
- 3 December 1977
- Place of death
- Stanford, California, United States
- Field
- Electrical engineering
- Education
- Oxford University, D.Phil.
- Awards
- Duddell Medal and Prize (1955) Stuart Ballantine Medal (1960) IEEE Medal of Honor(1973) National Medal of Science (1974)
- Nationality
- Austria · United Kingdom · United States · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- physicist · engineer · architect · inventor
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Rudolf Kompfner (May 16, 1909 – December 3, 1977) was an Austrian-born inventor, physicist and architect, best known as the inventor of the traveling-wave tube (TWT).
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Note VALÉORINE
Rudolf Kompfner (1909–1977) was an Austrian and British architect, engineer and inventor, among other activities. Born in Vienna, the architect died in Stanford.
Rudolf Kompfner studied at TU Wien and University of Oxford. The architect worked for Bell Labs, British Admiralty Office and University of Birmingham and was a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Sciences. Rudolf Kompfner was active in electrical engineering.
Languages used include English. The architect received Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize, honorary doctor of the Vienna Technical University and IEEE David Sarnoff Award, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q94031 · wikipedia · Rudolf Kompfner
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rudolf Kompfner • Born — 16 May 1909 • Birthplace — Vienna, Austria • Died — 3 December 1977 • Place of death — Stanford, California, United States • Field — Electrical engineering • Education — Oxford University, D.Phil. • Awards — Duddell Medal and Prize (1955) Stuart Ballantine Medal (1960) IEEE Medal of Honor(1973) National Medal of Science (1974)
Life
Life
Kompfner was born in Vienna to Jewish parents. He was originally trained as an architect and after receiving his university degree in 1933 he moved to England (due to the rise of anti-Semitism), where he worked as an architect until 1941. He had a strong interest in physics and electronics, and after being briefly detained by the British at the start of World War II he was recruited to work in a secret microwave vacuum tube research program at the University of Birmingham. While there, Kompfner invented the TWT in 1943. After the war he became a British citizen, continued working for the Admiralty as a scientist, and also studied physics at the University of Oxford, receiving his D.Phil. in 1951. In 1965, he received an honorary doctorate from the Vienna University of Technology.
1957
1957
• Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (issued August 27, 1957) • Traveling Wave Tube (issued October 29, 1957) • Electron Beam System (issued November 5, 1957)
1958
1958
• Traveling Wave Tube (issued May 13, 1958) • Electron Beam System (issued October 21, 1958) • Non-reciprocal Wave Transmission (issued November 11, 1958)
1959
1959
• Traveling Wave Tube (issued January 6, 1959) • Direct View Storage Tube (issued March 24, 1959) • Backward Wave Tube (issued June 16, 1959) • Traveling Wave Tube (issued July 14, 1959) • Apparatus Utilizing Slalom Focusing (issued August 11, 1959) • Non-reciprocal Wave Transmission Device (issued November 3, 1959) • Backward Wave Amplifier (issued December 8, 1959)
1960
1960
• Non-reciprocal Elements in Microwave Tubes (issued January 26, 1960) • Coaxial Couplers (issued February 16, 1960) • Pulse Coincidence Detecting Tube (issued April 19, 1960) • Electron Gun for Slalom Focusing Systems (issued May 31, 1960) • High Efficiency Velocity Modulation Devices (issued August 16, 1960) • Traveling Wave Tube (issued October 4, 1960)
1961
1961
• Low Noise Amplifier (issued February 14, 1961) • High Frequency Amplifier (issued February 21, 1961) • Backward Wave Tube (issued May 23, 1961) • Elastic Wave Parametric Amplifier (issued December 5, 1961)
1962
1962
• Parallel High Frequency Amplifier Circuits (issued February 15, 1962) • Scanning Horn-Reflector Antenna (issued February 13, 1962) • Microwave Filter (issued June 26, 1962) • Broadband Cyclotron Wave Parametric Amplifier (issued August 28, 1962) • High Frequency Generator (issued December 4, 1962)
1964
1964
• Traveling Wave Light Modulator (issued May 12, 1964) • Artificial Scattering Elements for Use as Reflectors in Space Communication Systems (issued September 29, 1964) • Detector for Optical Communication System (issued October 27, 1964)
1965
1965
• Beam Collector with Auxiliary Collector for Repelled or Secondarily-Emitted Electrons. (Issued 6 /8, 1965) • Antenna System (issued July 20, 1965) • Sinusoidal-Shaped Lens for Light Wave Communication (issued December 21, 1965) • Transmission of Light Waves (issued December 21, 1965)
1966
1966
• Optical Maser Amplifier (issued May 24, 1966) • Antenna System (issued September 13, 1966) • Triple Element S-Lens Focusing System (issued November 15, 1966)
1967
1967
• Spherical Reflector Elastic Wave Delay Device with Planar Transducers (issued May 2, 1967)
1969
1969
• Intracavity Image Converter (issued July 8, 1969)
1970
1970
• Receiving Antenna Apparatus Compensated for Antenna Surface Irregularities (issued January 13, 1970) • Anti-Doppler Shift Antenna for Mobile Radio (issued March 24, 1970) • Multiple-Pass Light-Deflecting Modulator (issued March 31, 1970) • Multiple-Pass Light-Deflecting Modulator (issued March 31, 1970) • Optical Waveguide (issued April 14, 1970) • Time Division Multiplex Optical Transmission System (issued April 14, 1970) • Digital Light Deflecting Systems (issued June 2, 1970) • Method and Apparatus for Obtaining 3-Dimensional Images from Recorded Standing Patterns (issued July 14, 1970) • Optical Heterodyne Receiver with Pulse Widening or Stretching (issued September 22, 1970) • Light Communication System with Improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio (issued October 6, 1970)
1977
1977
• Method of and Apparatus for Acoustic Imaging (issued March 15, 1977)
Identity
Identity
Rudolf Kompfner is recorded as a citizen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Recorded with the occupation architect.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1909
Rudolf Kompfner was born on 16 May 1909.
1977
Rudolf Kompfner died on 3 December 1977.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Kompfner, Rudolf (1909-1977), physicist and radio engineer, American National Biography Online, 2000
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2000
- Kompfner, Rudolf (1909–1977), electronics engineer and physicist, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2004
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q94031: Rudolf Kompfner
Unverified · Wikidata
reference work
- “Rudolf Kompfner”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Concise Dictionary of National Biography
- 2.IEEE Global History Network. Rudolf Kompfner. IEEE History Center. 2011.
- 3.TU Wien: Akademische Würdenträger. 21 February 2016.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Kompfner, Rudolf (1909-1977), physicist and radio engineer, American National Biography Online, 2000Crossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
Kompfner, Rudolf (1909–1977), electronics engineer and physicist, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004Crossref registry
Verifiedauthority record
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Formation and teaching. Kompfner studied at University of Oxford and TU Wien. The record notes the qualifications Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science and Doctor of Engineering (honorary). Kompfner worked in electrical engineering. He was employed by Bell Labs, British Admiralty Office and University of Birmingham. He belonged to National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Kompfner received Stuart Ballantine Medal, IEEE David Sarnoff Award, IEEE Medal of Honor, National Medal of Science, John Scott Award and Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize.
Career and activity
Recognition and collections
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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