Sidney Loeb

Sidney Loeb
Born	Sidney Loeb 1917 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Died	December 11, 2008(2008-12-11) (aged 91) Omer, Israel
Nationality	American, Israeli
Alma mater	University of Illinois(B.S.), University of California at Los Angeles (M.Sc., Ph.D.)
Known for	Reverse Osmosis
Spouse	Mickey Loeb
Scientific career
Fields	Chemical Engineering
Institutions	Ben-Gurion University
Doctoral advisor	Samuel Yuster
Other academic advisors	Srinivasa Sourirajan

Sidney Loeb (1917–2008) was the chemical engineer who made reverse osmosis (RO) practical by developing, together with Srinivasa Sourirajan, semi-permeable anisotropic membranes. Loeb invented the power generating process pressure retarded osmosis and the method of producing power by a reverse electrodialysis heat engine, among other inventions in related fields.

Loeb was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1917. He studied chemical engineering in the University of Illinois, Chicago. After working in the industry for 20 years, he earned his M.Sc. (1959) and Ph.D. (1964) degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles. It was in the course of his M.Sc. thesis research that the Loeb-Sourirajan membrane breakthrough was achieved.

In 1967 Loeb came to Beersheva to teach RO technology at the Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research, later incorporated into the Institutes for Applied Research of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). Loeb stayed in Beersheva three years, left, and later accepted a half time teaching and half time research position as Professor of Chemical Engineering at the newly established BGU. For 15 years at BGU, Loeb carried out research and taught membrane processes, desalination, and other subjects. He retired in 1986. It was at BGU that Loeb invented pressure retarded osmosis and the method of producing power by a reverse electrodialysis heat engine.