A GENIUS FOR INVENTION

George Westinghouse was the son of a man who invented and manufactured farm machinery in New York. At the age of twenty-two, George invented the air brake for trains, which launched his career as one of the world’s most prolific and important inventors. With a total of 361 patents credited to his name, Westinghouse lived life as an adventure. Always searching for ways to help mankind, Westinghouse was not motivated to greatness by money.

He was known for revolutionizing the railroad industry, adding to his airbrake the first automatic, electric block signal, a device designed to avoid wrecks, save lives and help move rail traffic safely. Westinghouse’s safety devices instilled confidence and provided operational efficiency. The materialization of which resulted in the railroad industries unbelievable growth and the population of the west.

He invented an efficient and safe way to transmit clean natural gas to homes for lighting and heating and to industry for fuel to power the industrial revolution. For this the natural gas industry owes its existence to Westinghouse.

Westinghouse also revolutionized the shipping industry. His inovative improvements in marine turbine engines powered a whole new kind and size of ships that opened the seas.

Westinghouse is also well known for improving conditions for his employees. Westinghouse was one of the first large corporations in the United States to institute half days on Saturdays in 1871 and paid vacations in the 1880’s. He provided affordable housing for his workers in 1889 and established pension and benefit plans for his employees in 1903. His fellow industrialists complained that Westinghouse was far too generous with his employees. After his death, his grateful employees, more than 55,000 of them donated to building his memorial.

Education was also important to Westinghouse, though he didn’t graduate from high school. In 1888 he established a foundation for education in the sciences and engineering. His commitment to nurturing young minds was the main inspiration for the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. The contest each year recognizes the brightest science and math students in the United States with scholarships for continuing education. Through the years, more than 110,000 students have been involved in the contest. The pay-off includes Nobel Prize, Fields Medal, and MacArthur Foundation Fellowship winners. Westinghouse’s greatest legacy may well be his support of education for it is a gift to the future.

When Nikola Tesla and Westinghouse first met, Westinghouse was already invested financially and intellectually in alternating current power. He had witnessed the problems and poor performance of direct current, and knew that the future of electricity was in alternating current. With nearly 400 employees, Westinghouse Electric was already producing alternators, transformers and other electrical equipment. (Always a man of foresight and courage, he had quadrupled the sales of his company from $800,000 to more than $3 million in 1888.) Westinghouse gave Tesla about $300,000 for his 40 patents, which included his regulators and dynamos. As part of this deal, Tesla moved to Pittsburgh to help with the development of alternating current, but at no pay. After his bad experiences with Thomas Edison, he never again worked for anyone other than as a consultant. The partnership of Tesla and Westinghouse fought viciously and publicly for years with Thomas Edison and his venture capital partner, J.P. Morgan. Edison played every imaginable trick, including having a secret employee of Edison’s promote alternating current for use in electrocuting death row inmates to scare the public into believing that AC power was more dangerous than DC power. Edison even went as far as to stage public electrocutions of dogs, horses and cattle.

In 1891, the partners, with the help of L.L. Nunn, were successful in building the world’s first commercial alternating current power plant in Telluride, Colorado and transmitted 60,000 volts a distance of four miles to run several 100 horse power electric motors.

Although Westinghouse won the war of the currents with Thomas Edison, the competition continued. In what was considered to be the greatest swindle of its time, the Edison Power Company sold the shares of their DC power company to the public before anyone could find out about DC power’s defeat at the Chicago World’s Fair. With this money, Edison went on to build AC generators and motors to compete directly with Westinghouse. Con-Edison it appears earned their name. The Edison Power Company is now known as General Electric. It is ironic that General Electric formed an early partnership with Tesla’a nemesis Marconi who was forced to admit that he stole Tesla’s patents and created the Radio Corporation of America, known today as NBC, a subsidiary of General Electric. In the early 60’s General electric bought a large portion of the Westinghouse Company. Today, the Westinghouse Corporation does not exist. It was broken into so many pieces and consolidated through the years to the point that the name is no longer used.

As part of the Tech Fest the George Westinghouse Museum in Pittsburgh and its Executive Director, Ed Reis, will be preparing a presentation on the life and times of George Westinghouse including some of his inventions. Family members are expected as well as some early robots which George made around 1900.