Career
Kettering was a researcher, first for National Cash Register, and then for the U.S. automotive industry, founding the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (shortened to DELCO) with Edward A. Deeds and Harold E. Talbott. Delco was eventually sold to General Motors, where it became the foundation for the General Motors Research Corporation and Delco Electronics. Kettering became vice president of General Motors Research Corporation in 1920 and held the position for 27 years.
With Henry Leland, he developed a self-starter for the Cadillac which won a Dewar Trophy as a result in 1913.
Between 1918 and 1923, he led the research and development at GM's Dayton research laboratories to commercialize air-cooled engines for cars and trucks. They used fans forcing air across copper fins for heat dissipation. The commercialization, attempted between 1921 and 1923, was unsuccessful due to a combination of factors, nontechnical and technical. Air-cooled engines have had commercial success before and since, in various fields (small engines, aircraft, cars), but the historical moment of GM's "copper-cooled" automotive engine was inauspicious.
In 1914, Flxible was incorporated with the help of Kettering, who then became president of the company and joined the board of directors. Kettering provided significant funding for the company in its early years, particularly after 1916, when Kettering sold his firm, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), to GM for $2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible, until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position he held until his death in 1958.
Kettering was later heavily involved in the research for new diesel engines, including two-stroke designs and lightweight designs. This research was instrumental in the development of diesel locomotives, the first of which was a 600-horsepower unit that powered the "Pioneer Zephyr" for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The Electro-Motive series of corporations, including its incarnation as a GM division, became a principal builder of locomotives. The work of Kettering and colleagues with diesels also led to the Detroit Diesel Series 71 family of two-stroke diesel engines for trucks and heavy equipment. In an interview about his diesel research, he was asked if the development of diesel locomotive engines presented any unusual problems. His classic response was, "Let it suffice to say that I don't recall having any trouble with the 'dipstick'".
Kettering and Deeds had a lifelong business, professional and personal relationship. In 1914, recognizing that Dayton was among the leading industrial cities in the US due to the skilled engineers and technicians in the city, they founded the Engineers Club of Dayton and the Foreman’s Club of Dayton which later on became the National Management Association. After his death, his body lay in honor at the Engineers Club prior to interment in the mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
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