70+ years of daylighting

Who Was Robert R. Keller, Sr.?

Born in 1913, Robert was amazed by the still-infant technology of airplanes—that something as impossible as man taking flight could be made possible by combining the right materials. So, at a young age, he began to wonder what else was possible with the right materials.

He experimented with surfboard design—another way to help man do the impossible—and then snowboards. He discovered the power of combining dissimilar materials to create better composites. He suffered a few explosions in the basement, but a lifelong inventor was born.

After graduation from Dartmouth College and the Tuck School of Business, Robert got a true start in a composites career at the Hermsdorf Manufacturing Company, where he eventually became general manager. By 1941, he had converted this store fixture firm into a defense plant that manufactured molded plywood and wood composites for airplanes, mine sweepers and signal core masts. Toward the end of WWII, he started his first company, Keller Products, which designed, engineered and manufactured composite architectural materials for the aircraft, building and furniture industries. Then, he developed the insulated, light-transmitting panel, named Kalwall, which became familiar to architects worldwide. Robert adapted the Kalwall technology to develop active and passive solar collectors to counter the energy shortage of the early 1970s. His ingenuity led to over 30 patents and recognition for his pioneering work in adhesives, structural plastics, composites and solar energy devices. In 1999, Robert was awarded the Passive Pioneer Solar Award by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and was made a Fellow of ASES the following year.