Co-ops Set Foundation for Successful Patent Attorney Career
With a desire to work independently and a lasting appreciation for chemical engineering developed through three co-ops, Robert Goldberg, E’59, built a successful career as a patent attorney representing chemical engineering companies.
While a student at Northeastern, Robert Goldberg, E’59, chemical engineering, completed three co-ops, experiences that gave him insight into the career opportunities available for chemical engineers and helped him become a successful patent attorney.
“I couldn’t have done what I did without the chemical engineering training,” Goldberg says.
His first co-op was in Northeastern’s Unit Operations Laboratory in the chemical engineering department. Goldberg assisted in the maintenance of chemical engineering equipment such as evaporators, distillation columns, and spray dryers. This experience gave Goldberg insight into industrial chemical manufacturing and processing and the responsibilities of a chemical engineer—a preview of what his career path could be.
Goldberg’s second co-op was at Walter Baker Chocolate Co. in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The company was introducing Dream Whip, a new product that would be sold as a dry powder, and when mixed and whipped with milk, it became a whipped cream substitute. The product was made with a process of spray drying a liquid in the form of small droplets into the top of a tall-heated spray dryer. As the droplets descended through the spray dryer, the liquid evaporated and formed a powder. At the time, the spray dryer was the largest in the country.
When Dream Whip was test marketed, the company discovered that the powder could not be whipped into a whipped cream consistency in hot and humid locations. An engineering team that included Goldberg found that the problem was due to excessive moisture during cooling of the powder following the spray drying process. A humidifier was installed into the production line and Dream Whip went on to become a successful product. Initially it was mass produced by General Foods and ultimately offered by The Kraft Heinz Co., which continues to sell it today.
Goldberg’s third and final co-op was at MIT in the corrosion laboratories where he conducted research related to stress corrosion cracking of stainless steel. The research was funded by the Naval Research Laboratories because of the discovery of corrosion on the surface of the hull of the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine. Tiny cracks formed on the stainless-steel hull of the Nautilus as it passed beneath the Arctic ice cap. These cracks were identified as stress corrosion cracks.
Goldberg performed research on the corrosion issue during his co-op and continued as a part time employee at MIT when he returned to the classroom at Northeastern.
Together, the co-ops gave Goldberg a firm foundation in chemical engineering.
“I got experience in chemical engineering, research, and manufacturing processes,” Goldberg says. “I had a very full gathering of information I needed to be a chemical engineer.”
But there was one hitch. Goldberg no longer wanted to be a chemical engineer.
In his senior year, the chemical engineering department invited a series of speakers to advise students of the various employment opportunities available to them. One speaker was a patent agent who spoke about patent law as a career.
“That did it,” says Goldberg.
Following graduation, Goldberg was accepted at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he studied law for one year. But having been in school for six straight years, he decided it was time for a break and he fulfilled his ROTC obligation. He entered the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant and upon leaving as a captain, Goldberg returned to George Washington Law School as a night school student while working in the U.S. Patent Office as a patent examiner in a classified division.
After graduation from law school with a JD degree and passing the D.C. bar, Goldberg was hired by General Electric and worked as the sole patent attorney in the company’s chemical development operation, a group responsible for bringing new chemical businesses into GE. He reported to Jack Welch, who ultimately became president of GE.
After two years at GE, Goldberg decided to enter private practice. He joined a Boston law firm and brought GE with him as a client. The firm was made up of older lawyers and was losing clients. But Goldberg worked with another newly hired attorney to build a client base and bring in new partners to build the practice. Goldberg spent the rest of his career with this firm and says he was fortunate to have his own client base and work independently within the firm.
Initially, Goldberg’s practice consisted primarily of patent prosecution, particularly in the field of electronic chemicals used in the manufacture of semiconductors and printed circuit boards. The practice evolved to include patent litigation, with a focus on international litigation and technology transfer – the buying, selling, and licensing of technology.
Goldberg had once-in-a-lifetime career moments, such as the time in 1988 when he was named by Edwin Meese, who as at the time the United States Attorney General, to be part of a delegation of 250 U.S.-based attorneys to participate in a conference in Beijing with 250 attorneys from China. Together, the group reviewed trade regulations between the two countries.
To a large extent, Goldberg credits his success to Northeastern and the combination of classroom and co-op experience which prepared him for his career in patent law. In appreciation, Goldberg created a scholarship fund for chemical engineering students.
Decades have passed since the Dream Whip days, and he says he can’t imagine what his path would have been without Northeastern.
“In 1954 when I applied to Northeastern, it wasn’t the school it is today,” Goldberg says. “I had a poor academic record, but Northeastern accepted me and I did well. I’m so appreciative of the training and how it prepared me for the future.”
“If not for Northeastern, who knows what would have happened,” he adds.