Glasstech Globe
Location 56
Owner: Harald McMaster
My submission is about a dear friend of mine who taught me the power of a vision. Harold McMaster (1916-2003) was called "the Glass Genius" by Fortune Magazine - no small tribute for a scientist working in the Glass City. One of 13 children growing up in poverty on a tenant farm in Deshler, Ohio, Harold was inventive at an early age, building a threshing machine at age 10 and a car motor at age 12. Recognizing his genius, the people of Deshler "passed the hat" so that Harold could attend Defiance College and Ohio State, where he studied physics. While at Ohio State, Harold saw a television for the first time. He remarked to his girlfriend, Helen Clark, who would become his spouse and life-long companion, that he could envision a television in the future that was on a flat piece of glass hanging on the wall! His glass inventions changed the world, and they live on today. Using technology developed by Harold, rear-vision periscopes for fighter aircraft and coatings to de-ice aircraft windows aided America in World War II. Founding Permaglass in 1948 and at Glasstech in 1971 with Norm Nitschke and Frank Larimer, Harold and his research team commercialized glass tempering technology (heating glass and rapidly cooling it) leaving it stronger and able to be shaped. This "Holy Grail" of glass technology is essential for the safety of windows in skyscrapers, home patio doors, and other structures. At its pinnacle, Glasstech manufactured machines that supplied 80% of the world's automotive glass and 50% of its architectural glass. In his mid-60's, McMaster turned his attention to and was a central figure in the creation of the solar industry, inventing the core technology used today in First Solar's manufacturing process. In 1990, Harold shared with me his vision of vast solar fields that would efficiently harvest the energy from the sun. Today, every time I pass a solar array, I think of Harold's vision.Inspired by the generosity of the people of his hometown that funded most of his formal education, Harold and his wife Helen have been prolific supporters of higher education in Northwest Ohio, the arts, and hundreds of non-profit organizations. In 1991, Harold joined Thomas Edison and tiremaker Harvey Firestone in the initial class inducted into the Ohio Science Hall of Fame.