Charles F. Kettering

Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) was an American engineer, inventor, and industrialist who developed the electric automobile self-starter and led research at General Motors.

Electric starter: An electrically powered device that starts an engine without manual cranking. Kettering’s best-known invention made electric engine starting practical for mass-produced cars.
Hand crank: A manually operated crank used to turn an engine during starting. The starter displaced this dangerous and physically demanding way of starting cars.
Lead–acid battery: A rechargeable battery using lead electrodes and sulfuric-acid electrolyte. Reliable storage batteries helped make electric starting practical in automobiles.
Edward A. Deeds: An American engineer and industrialist who co-founded Delco with Kettering. Deeds helped establish the company through which Kettering developed early electrical inventions.
Delco: The Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, an electrical engineering firm founded by Kettering and Edward Deeds. Delco provided the company and engineering base for Kettering’s early inventions.
Electric motor: A device that converts electrical energy into mechanical motion. A compact motor supplies the force that turns an engine during starting.
Ethyl gasoline: A leaded gasoline additive marketed to reduce engine knocking. Kettering promoted tetraethyl lead as a solution to knocking in high-compression engines.
Alfred P. Sloan: An American business executive who led General Motors as president and chairman. Sloan’s management of GM overlapped with Kettering’s leadership of its research work.
General Motors Research Corporation: A research organization established by General Motors to conduct scientific and engineering work. Kettering led GM’s research organization and shaped its industrial research model.
Automobile battery: A rechargeable battery that supplies electrical power to a vehicle’s systems. The starter draws its operating current from the car’s battery.

Linked from 4 pages