page_title: Louis Rosenblum
section_title: Career at NASA
hierarchical_section_title: Louis Rosenblum / Career at NASA
caption_attribution_description: English: This photo was taken during a visit to a solar energy installation in the Southwestern US.
context_page_description: Louis Rosenblum was a pioneer in the movement for freedom of emigration for the Jews in the Soviet Union, was a founder of the first organization to advocate for the freedom of Soviet Jews, the Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism, founding president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, and a research scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lewis Research Center.
context_section_description: From 1952 to 1981, Rosenblum worked for the NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, as research scientist and technical manager in fields of high energy fuels for jet aircraft, high temperature materials, liquid metal corrosion, environmental monitoring systems, and solar photovoltaic and electrochemical energy systems. During the 1960s he served as Chief of the Liquid Metals Branch. During that time he led a "Fair Housing Drive" to fight discrimination against African American employees who were unable to buy or rent property in proximity to their work at NASA.  In 1969 Rosenblum was appointed Chief of the Direct Energy Conversion Division responsible for research and development activities in thermionics, photovoltaics and electrochemistry. At NASA he co-invented a portable electronic beam welder.  In 1977 he was appointed Chief of the Solar and Electrochemistry Division responsible for 1) research and development of space related photovoltaics and energy storage and 2) U.S. and international demonstration projects for terrestrial application of photovoltaic and electrochemical storage systems. Under Rosenblum the first nickel-zinc battery suitable for a commercial electric cars was developed in 1978. The photovoltaic demonstration work was deployed in remote villages in the US and across the globe. He was appointed to the Federal Senior Executive Service in 1979 and retired from NASA in 1981. From 1982-1988, Rosenblum worked as a private consultant in photovoltaic and renewable energy systems for several U.S. and international clients, including the University of Michigan, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the United Nations Development Program.
caption: Louis Rosenblum at dedication of solar energy installation on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, Schuchuli, Arizona, 16 December 1978
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