For more than 40 years August F. Witt worked for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, and established himself as one of the most important researchers in the field of crystal growth for semiconductor production.
The Innsbruck native conducted research in the field of nuclear chemistry in Paris from 1953 to 1954, and radiation chemistry was a topic at the Atomic Research Institute in Harwell, Great Britain. In 1959, he received his doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Innsbruck. From 1960, Witt was a researcher in metallurgy at MIT. In 1973/74 he was involved in NASA’s Skylab project. His research found practical application during three uses of the manned space station. From 1982 to 1989, Witt headed NASA’s Electronic Materials Working Group.
An internationally active researcher, he has received numerous awards, including NASA’s Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award in 1974 and the Amar Bose Award in 1990. In 1992, with the Space Processing Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.