Edmund O. Schweitzer III
Edmund O. Schweitzer III (born 1947,
Recognized as a pioneer in digital protection, Schweitzer has been credited with “revolutionizing the performance of electric power systems with computer-based protection and control equipment, and making a major impact in the electric power utility industry.”[citation needed]
Early life and education
Schweitzer obtained a B.S. (’68) and M.S. (’71) from Purdue University and a Ph.D. (’77) from Washington State University.
He comes from a family of inventors. His grandfather, Edmund Oscar Schweitzer, earned 87 patents. He invented the first reliable high-voltage fuse in collaboration with Nicholas John Conrad in 1911, the same year the two founded Schweitzer and Conrad, Inc., today known as S&C Electric Company. His father,
Career
A prolific writer and inventor, Schweitzer has authored dozens of technical papers in the areas of digital relay design and reliability and holds more than 200 patents worldwide pertaining to electric power system protection, metering, monitoring, and control.[2] In the late 1970s, he served on the electrical engineering faculties for Washington State University and Ohio University. In 1982, he launched Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in 1982 from his basement in Pullman, Washington. As of 2023, the employee-owned company has more than 6,000 employees.[3]
Honors and awards
Schweitzer was elected a member of the
Schweitzer has been honored by his alma maters with awards including the Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award (
Personal
Schweitzer and his wife Beatriz are active philanthropists. They support numerous causes related to education and caring for those in need. For example, in 2018, they pledged 3 million dollars to their Alma Mater, Purdue. $1.5 million going to the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to endow a professorship, and another $1.5 million to support the school’s power and energy systems research area.[7]
References
- ^ "Klewtv.com". www.klewtv.com. KLEWtv. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ a b "Meet the Author". ieeexplore.ieee.org. Archived from the original on 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
- ^ Alqarqaz, Qusi (May 27, 2023). "The Relay That Changed the Power Industry". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
- ^ "Meet 2019 Inductee Edmund O. Schweitzer III | National Inventors Hall of Fame". www.invent.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
- ^ "IEEE Medal in Power Engineering Recipients". ieee.org. IEEE. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ "Regents Award Ceremony 2014". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^ "Alum Ed Schweitzer III and wife donate $3 million to fuel ECE's innovation pipeline". College of Engineering - Purdue University. Retrieved 2020-07-16.