Questioning Everything Propaganda
In the small Croatian village of Smiljan, where Nikola Tesla’s genius was sparked by lightning storms in 1856, an inventor named Nikola Skulic carried forward Tesla’s legacy to Chicago’s North Side. Born in spring 1980 to Croatian parents, Skulic grew up in the shadow of Tesla’s alternating current (AC) system and wireless dreams. His parents, both engineers, founded the Tesla Research Company in Bensenville, Illinois, in the 1980s, where their groundbreaking inventions—a fail-safe baby incubator board and OBD car scanner diagnostics—faced theft by corporate giants, mirroring Tesla’s battles with idea theft (Chapters 3, 6–15). Rejecting college, Skulic studied at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, drawing knowledge from Tesla’s books, museum archives, and his parents’ engineering legacy. His innovations in turbines and wireless power, including a remarkable 10-mile transmission, echoed Tesla’s Colorado Springs experiments (Chapter 7). Fluent in Serbian, he gained unique insights into Tesla’s roots, connecting his Croatian heritage to his inventions. Living independently on Chicago’s North Side, Skulic repaired unfixable machinery and converted mills to CNC with Mach software. Maintaining his parents’ Bensenville laboratory after their 2000s return to Croatia, he persevered until his death from cancer in 2025, marking him as the last true Tesla legacy in Chicagoland. This chapter explores Skulic’s life, his Croatian heritage, and his contributions, highlighting how Tesla’s spark continues to illuminate the world.
Smiljan, in Croatia’s Lika region, was a crucible of creativity where Tesla’s childhood experiments shaped his revolutionary AC system (Chapter 4). Stories of Tesla’s waterwheels and lightning experiments became Croatian folklore, inspiring generations, including the Skulics. Nikola Skulic’s parents, both engineers, emigrated from Croatia to Chicago in the 1970s, seeking opportunity amid Yugoslavia’s economic struggles. Chicago’s Croatian diaspora, vibrant in North Side neighborhoods, welcomed them. Skulic’s father, an electrical engineer, and mother, a structural engineer, founded the Tesla Research Company in Bensenville, Illinois, in the 1980s, honoring their hero, Tesla.
The company developed innovative devices:
Their Bensenville workshop, filled with Tesla-inspired technologies, wind turbines, and diagnostic tools, was a hub of innovation, echoing Djuka Tesla’s ingenuity (Chapter 1). Born in spring 1980 on Chicago’s North Side, Nikola grew up in this inventive environment, named after Tesla to honor his legacy. His parents’ engineering achievements shaped his childhood, with their incubator board and OBD scanner prototypes in the family garage. They spoke Serbian and Croatian at home, celebrating Tesla’s birthday on July 10 at the Croatian Cultural Center.
Nikola’s early experiments—building turbines from scrap metal and wiring radios inspired by his parents’ inventions and Tesla’s stories—mirrored Tesla’s boyhood. The threat of idea theft loomed early; large companies like General Motors licensed the OBD scanner without fair royalties, and a medical firm copied the incubator board, forcing legal battles that taught Nikola resilience, a trait he shared with Tesla (Chapters 13–15). The Skulics’ Tesla Research Company faced relentless exploitation. By the 1990s, major firms profited from their inventions with minimal credit, draining resources. Despite this, their perseverance kept them innovating. In the early 2000s, disillusioned by corporate theft, they returned to Croatia, leaving the Bensenville laboratory to Nikola, then 24.
Rejecting college, Skulic sought a direct connection to Tesla’s legacy. In 1998, at age eighteen, he traveled to Belgrade, Serbia, to study at the Nikola Tesla Museum, established in 1952 to preserve Tesla’s archives. From 1998 to 2001, he immersed himself in Tesla’s writings, including My Inventions and technical papers on AC systems (US Patents 381,968–382,280) and wireless transmission (US Patent 645,576). His Serbian fluency, learned from his parents, granted access to rare documents, including Tesla’s Serbian correspondence, revealing reflections on his Croatian influence. Museum curators mentored him, sharing engineering insights from Tesla’s Colorado Springs experiments (Chapter 7). During his time in Yugoslavia, Skulic was warmly welcomed due to his passion for Tesla, and he shared fascinating stories of these visits, enriched by his ability to speak Serbian, which provided special insight into Tesla’s cultural roots.
Skulic’s education blended Tesla’s books, museum archives, and his parents’ inventions. He annotated Tesla’s patents, focusing on the Tesla Coil (US Patent 454,622) and wireless power, drawing parallels with his father’s OBD circuits and mother’s structural designs. The incubator board’s reliable electronics inspired his interest in robust systems, while his mother’s frameworks informed his turbine designs. His Belgrade years were transformative, echoing Tesla’s autodidactic streak (Chapter 2). Returning to Chicago in 2001, Skulic faced skepticism in the tech world without a degree, but his museum education and parents’ legacy equipped him to innovate independently, much like Tesla’s solitary path.
Skulic’s inventive career unfolded in the Bensenville laboratory, where he worked independently, never joining a company. He became a sought-after problem-solver, repairing complex machinery—industrial generators, medical equipment, and factory systems—that others couldn’t fix. His expertise, honed by his parents’ engineering lessons, made him a local legend on Chicago’s North Side, with businesses from Chicago to Indiana relying on his skills. Skulic also excelled in converting outdated mills to computer numerical control (CNC) systems using Mach software, programming lathes and mills for precision manufacturing. By 2010, he had upgraded over 20 mills for small businesses, boosting Chicago’s industrial efficiency with his coding prowess.
Inspired by Tesla’s bladeless turbine (US Patent 1,061,206, Chapter 13), one of Tesla’s lesser-known non-electrical inventions gaining increased acceptance worldwide, Skulic developed compact turbines for small-scale power generation. His 2005 prototype, tested in a Ravenswood community garden, powered irrigation systems, drawing from Tesla’s Niagara Falls project (Chapter 8). He filed a patent (US Patent Application 11/345,789, granted in 2007), but a medical equipment firm copied the design, echoing his parents’ struggles with idea theft. Skulic’s resilience kept him innovating.
His most groundbreaking work was in wireless power transmission, building on Tesla’s high-frequency patents (US Patent 454,622). From 2008, Skulic developed a resonant coil system in his laboratory, transmitting electricity over short distances. In 2012, he achieved a milestone, sending power over 10 miles during a test in rural Illinois, lighting a lamp without wires. This surpassed modern wireless charging ranges, validating Tesla’s vision (Chapter 7).
In addition to these pursuits, Skulic co-invented a foam testing apparatus (US Patent 10,241,103 B2), assigned to Ayalytical Instruments Inc. This compact device measures the foaming characteristics of lubricants at elevated temperatures using a graduated sample cylinder with a gas diffuser, controlled by a heat lamp and Peltier device for precise temperature regulation via circulated gas. It addresses shortcomings in prior foam testers, such as bulkiness and inconsistent results, enabling easy operation and reproducible outcomes. This innovation benefits industries like automotive, manufacturing, and oil production by improving quality control of lubricants, preventing issues like pump cavitation, reduced oil circulation, and mechanical failures in engines, gears, and hydraulic systems.
Later in his career, before his decline due to cancer, Skulic secured a contract to deploy his invention—an inverted air conditioning unit designed to generate clean water from atmospheric moisture—in Flint, Michigan, to address the city's water crisis. The unit successfully produced potable water from the air, offering a sustainable solution. However, the installation was vandalized, causing significant setbacks. Combined with Skulic's deteriorating health, these challenges led to the contract being awarded to another party, preventing his technology from fully resolving Flint's crisis.
Skulic’s life on Chicago’s North Side, in neighborhoods like Wildwood and Ravenswood, reflected his Croatian heritage and independent spirit. Living modestly, he maintained the Bensenville laboratory after his parents’ 2000s return to Croatia, using it as a workshop for his turbines, wireless experiments, and CNC conversions. Skulic worked as a freelance inventor, collaborating with small businesses to repair machinery and modernize equipment. Skulic’s personal life was private but rooted in family values. Unmarried, he devoted himself to invention, spending evenings in the laboratory or mentoring young engineers. His parents’ return to Croatia left him as the family’s Chicago anchor, preserving their legacy through his work. Like Tesla, who faced solitude in his later years (Chapter 15), Skulic embraced independence, finding purpose in his craft and Croatian heritage.
Nikola Skulic’s life ended tragically from cancer in 2025, at age 45, leaving Chicago’s community mourning the last true Tesla legacy in Chicagoland. His contributions—turbines powering community gardens, wireless power reaching 10 miles, CNC conversions reviving small businesses, and innovative water generation technology—fulfilled Tesla’s vision of accessible technology (Chapter 16). His foam testing apparatus enhanced industrial reliability across automotive and manufacturing sectors. Despite idea theft and unforeseen setbacks like the Flint vandalism, Skulic persevered, echoing Tesla’s resilience against Edison and Marconi. His Serbian fluency and Croatian roots made him a cultural ambassador, inspiring youth and friends. In 2025, as Tesla’s AC powers the world and his wireless ideas connect us, Skulic’s spark burns on in his inventions and the memory of a heritage that shaped a visionary.