Schweitzer Inducted Into National Inventors Hall of Fame
Edmund Schweitzer III
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEdmund Schweitzer III has been inducted into the 2019 National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is a Purdue University alumnus, who created groundbreaking technologies in the field of electric power systems.
Schweitzer, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering in 1968 and 1971, is founder, president and chief technology officer of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. He is among 19 innovation pioneers selected to be part of the class. The group, whose inventions range from the UNIX operating system to fluoride toothpaste, will be honored during an event May 1 and 2 in Washington, D.C.
Schweitzer created the first digital protective relay in 1982, revolutionizing the electrical protection industry. His company can now identify a fault to within 100 feet on a 100-mile line and trip the breakers in a millisecond or two. His grandfather, an 1898 Purdue graduate, developed the first reliable high-voltage fuse.
Schweitzer is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He received the IEEE Medal of Power Engineering in 2012.
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories broke ground in September on SEL Purdue, a 100,000-square-foot facility for electric power research that will support 300-plus new high-tech jobs and serve as an anchor in the Purdue Research Foundation’s Discovery Park District.
The $1 billion Discovery Park District is a 30-year plan to transform the west side of the Purdue campus by combining collaborative office and lab space with residential homes, pavilions, green space, walking paths, restaurants and retail.
The Schweitzers also donated $1.5 million to the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, or ECE, in 2018 to endow a professorship, and another $1.5 million to support the school’s power and energy systems research area, now named the Schweitzer Institute of Power and Energy Systems.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame, located in Alexandria, Virginia, recognizes inventors and invention, promotes creativity and advances the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford are among the inductees.