Cyrus Melikian
Automatic coffee, from an engineering idea to everyday life
Cyrus Melikian was an Armenian American inventor and entrepreneur born in 1920. His work focused on automating coffee preparation and sales, turning an everyday need into an engineering challenge.
With his business partner Lloyd Rudd, he developed coffee vending machines. One of their joint patents, filed in 1948 and granted in 1954, combined cup dispensing with controlled delivery of the drink’s ingredients.
Melikian’s work helped spread self-service refreshments in workplaces and public spaces. He died in 2008. His story shows how mechanical precision and entrepreneurship can reshape familiar habits, including the simple act of buying a cup of coffee.