Inspirational Quotes by George Westinghouse (American Engineer)

George Westinghouse (1846–1914) was a prolific American engineer, inventor, and manufacturer. His accomplishments spanned several fields. However, he is best known for his contributions to the efficiency and the safety of railroad transportation and electrical power transmission.

Born in Central Bridge, New York, Westinghouse fought for the North in the American Civil War and served in the navy before returning in 1865 to work in his father’s farm machinery workshop. The same year, he applied for a patent for a rotary steam engine locomotive; it was the first of his over 400 patents.

Westinghouse is celebrated for developing vacuum-operated safety brakes and electrically controlled signals for railways. In 1869, he organized the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. And in 1886, he formed the Westinghouse Electric Company to manufacture his inventions. He invited the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla to work with him and received contracts to light the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

A prolific inventor, Westinghouse figured out a way to adapt Europe’s alternating current technology to American needs, creating two-phase adapters that allowed people to use the new power system. In 1895, Westinghouse successfully harnessed the power of the Niagara Falls to generate adequate electricity for the town of Buffalo. He pioneered not only the use of alternating current for distributing electric power but also the use of natural gas and compressed air.

Haig Gordon Garbedian wrote the biography George Westinghouse: A Fabulous Inventor (1943.)

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