Professor Dimitar Ivanov Chernev

Dimitar Ivanov Chernev, born in 1930 in Varna, Bulgaria, was an engineer, physicist, and a highly productive inventor who later became a Bulgarian-American.

Born into a family facing political persecution (his father was the agrarian leader Nikola Petkov), Chernev pursued his studies in Sofia, graduating in 1952 with a degree in electrical engineering after proposing a system for electromagnetic recording on celluloid — a method that was then only rivaled by major German firms.
Following initial endeavors in Bulgaria, specifically as an engineer at Sтaра Загора telephone exhange and Radio Sofia, he departed during a delicate political period and made his way through East Germany to Western Europe, ultimately reaching the United States.

In the U.S., he was found a job working with CBS, later embarked on doctoral studies at MIT, and ultimately became part of NASA-related initiatives at Caltech, making significant contributions to programs focused on the Moon, Mars, and Venus probes.

A selection of some of his 60 odd diverse patents include:

• Compact magnetic (audio) cassette / cassette tape system
  • Chernev is commonly credited with contributions toward the development of the magnetic compact cassette.
• Solar-powered refrigerator (“solar refrigerator”)
  • A cooling device using natural materials (e.g. zeolites) and solar energy, requiring no moving parts or conventional electricity.
• Heat pump energised by low-grade (waste or ambient) heat
  • In U.S. patent filings, Chernev is credited with a “heat pump energized by low-grade heat source.”
• Kinescope / cathode-ray tube (CRT) / optical image recording & transfer systems
  • Some sources assert he worked on the cathode-ray tube (“kinескоп”) and optical record/transfer of images at very short wavelengths (≈0.3 µm) as early as the 1950s.
•  Telemetry, laser, and space / imaging systems
  • Several popular accounts list contributions in laser technology, satellite/telemetry devices, imaging for space probes, and novel signal/communication devices.
• First digital wristwatch, pollutant measurement / monitoring, wireless heart monitor (claimed in local sources)
  • Some Bulgarian-language articles claim he designed an early digital wristwatch, a system to measure environmental pollution, and a wireless cardiac monitor, among others.

This forgotten genius sadly passed away on September 5, 2012, in the Boston region.

• BGdnes
• Wikipedia – Dimitar Ianov Chernev

• Wikipedia – Dimitar Ianov Chernev
• https://e-vestnik.bg ( Image source)