Zandman worked initially for two years as a lecturer at the École de l'air, the French Academy of Aeronautics. He then worked as an engineer in his specialty field of voltage measurement for a publicly owned company, which manufactured aircraft engines. In 1956, Zandman presented his methods and self-developed instruments for the first time in the U.S.. He was able to establish important contacts with leading professors and well-known users of its specific field. He was eventually employed by the company Tatnall Measuring Systems in Philadelphia as director of basic research. Initially, he concentrated on measuring the development of his case, voltages of optical coatings. Then he developed a temperature-resistant electrical resistance. His employer, however, had no interest in the marketing of this invention.
Professional life as an entrepreneur
In 1960 Felix Zandman and Sidney J. Stein present a development of resistor film and put the potential of this invention to work, based on inventions made by previous researchers knew how to make up an industry, of an electrical component of very high stability. This component was called metal foil resistor and in spite of the problems encountered and working with many collaborators, it was able to develop this resistance, which gave it a high precision and, above all, a stability to extreme temperature changes, such as those found in the aeronautical and space industry. In essence the metal foil resistor, is a component formed by a ceramic base and attached to it a metal with a small thickness. Zandman's idea was the following, assuming that the component is at room temperature and then the temperature increases, the electrical resistance of the metal due to the increase in temperature also increases, as the temperature increases the metal tends to increase its length, it expands, but being stuck to a ceramic structure with a much greater thickness, the metal can not expand and the thickness of it increases, with a reduction in electrical resistance, with which the effect of increased resistance is compensated and almost it does not change. To this end he founded, in 1962, the company Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. His relative, Alfred P. Slaner, provided financial support for the initial funding. The company has developed into a Fortune 1000 company with many subsidiaries and over 22,000 employees worldwide. Vishay Intertechnology is a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of over a billion dollars.
Personal Story
In April 2008, Felix Zandman attended the March of the Living, where he shared the story of how he was rescued by Catholic Polish Righteous Among the Nations, Jan and Anna Puchalski, who hid him and his uncle for 17 months. His hiding place was a dugout 170 cm long, 150 cm wide and 120 cm tall that Felix Zandman shared with three other Jewish escapees. Felix Zandman told his story to thousands of young students from around the world who had gathered in Auschwitz-Birkenau to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day He was survived by his wife, Ruta Zandman and three children: Dr. Gisele Zandman Goddard, Ariele Zandman Klausner, and Marc Zandman.
