Max Riedl: A full life

SPIE Fellow Max Riedl, who worked in the field of electro-optical instruments for more than 50 years, passed away recently at the age of 98.

A longtime SPIE member, Riedl authored three SPIE Press books, Optical Design Fundamentals for Infrared Systems, Optical Design: Applying the Fundamentals, and Optics for Technicians. He was also an early SPIE course instructor, working closely with the Education Services team.

Riedl also published an autobiography, A Full Life, tracing his early life in Germany, where he was born in 1926, to his education in precision mechanics and optics, and his immigration to the United States in 1953. He discussed highlights of that journey in a 2011 article for SPIE Professional magazine. In the article, Riedl notes how important scientific collaboration was in his professional life.

Although passionate about infrared (IR) systems and lens design, Riedl had originally planned on a career in precision mechanics – optics weren’t part of the plan.

In 1940, he began an apprenticeship in Precision Mechanics (Feinmechanik) at the Mathematical-Mechanical Institute in Kempten, Germany. There he helped build planimeters, integrimeters, harmonic analyzers, and other high-precision mathematical apparatus. After World War II, Riedl intended to study precision mechanics in Munich at the Oskar von Miller Polytechnikum, but the academy only offered a combined precision mechanics and optics program. Four years later, Riedl graduated with a passion for optics and optical design.

Riedl came to the US with his wife Hermine in 1953. Their plan to stay “a year or two” turned into a 45-year stretch. Highlights of his career include working with Werner von Braun's team, working with a team from MIT/Lincoln Laboratories, working with the Pacific Range Electromagnetic Signature Study (PRESS) project, and joining Infrared Industries in Santa Barbara, CA. During his career, Riedl became president and CEO of two US optical companies.

“First impressions of Max Riedl are that he is passionate about his work, always looks to the next project, and constantly uses his imagination,” wrote Erin M. Schadt in a 2001 article for SPIE’s OE Magazine. “A longer look at his career shows these first impressions to be true.”