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The GoTo site for
Power System Professionals Involved in Lightning Protection |
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Inductees June 2009 April
2009 March
2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April
2008 |
Surge Protection Hall of Fame |
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Rodney M Doone Inventor of the External
Multi-column Arrester
Also credited to Rod Doone is an early polymer housed arrester patent filed in 1986 and granted in 1989. Complete Hall of Fame Citation |
Surge Protection Hall of Fame This hall of fame is a tribute to all those in the
industry that have contributed significantly to the development, commercialization,
and improvement in surge protection of power systems. There are hundreds of individuals from around the world
that have contributed to this industry for the past 150+ years. However, there is very little known about these
pioneers and professionals. With the
help of many, we can make this a “Hall of Fame” worthy of those
inducted. Please send me photos and biographies of these great
people, and I will be glad to add them to this Hall. We have just begun! Jon Woodworth |
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John W. Kalb Inventor of the
Arrester Current-limiting Gap
When he retired from Ohio Brass in 1981 he had been involved in surge arrester design for over 40 years with more than 11 US patents on arresters in his name. Jack is recognized as the inventor of the surge arrester current-limiting gap. This invention moved the surge arrester protection capabilities to the next level in surge protection in the early 1960’s. US patent 3,019,367 filed in Jan 1957 and granted in Jan 1962 was the first patent to describe the Arrester Current-Limiting Gap Concept. In August 1959 Jack’s AIEE paper titled “New Current-Limiting Gap Extends Valve-Type Lightning-Arrester Performance”, co-authored by AG Yost, also of Ohio Brass, introduced the world to the new concept of current limiting gaps. This new invention allowed for lower resistance valve blocks that translated in to improved protective levels on arresters. This invention replaced the magnetic field controlled arc gap design that had been used for the decade before the current-limiting gap was introduced. This invention is also credited with improving surge protection around the world. Besides his current-limiting gap experience, Jack Designed an expulsion arrester in the 1940’s and lead the Ohio Brass team with the introduction of its first MOV type arrester. Career, Awards and Honors 1940 – Graduate of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore Pa. 1940 - Started his Career at GE 1949 - Joined Ohio Brass, 1957 - Invented Current-limiting Gap for Arresters 1958 - Named Director of R&D, Ohio Brass 1959 - IEEE Fellow 1980 - Elected to the National Academy of Engineering of the US. 1981 - Retired from arrester business 4 - IEEE Prize Papers 11 - US patents 1949-1970 In the April 2009 Hall of Fame Citation, read the story of his career in his own words as written in a letter to ArresterWorks in April 2009. |
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Professor Mat Darveniza Professor,
Standards Bearer, Author And Overvoltage
Protection Expert
On Australia Day 2003, Emeritus Professor Darveniza was
appointed an Officer of the General Division of the Order of Also in 2003, he received the Centenary Medal awarded by the Governor-General in the category of the General List (citation –“for service to Australian society in electrical engineering and education”). In December 2004, the Queensland Government appointed him Director ENERGEX Board. In 2008, he was elected to the IEAust Qld Division Hall of Fame. John Posey Standards
Champion and Lifelong
High Voltage Arrester Expert
Words of Wisdom for Future Arrester
Designers Prepare for changes in technology and in peoples goals. The world will change and you can help make it happen. Career John received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1950 and started his lifelong association with Ohio Brass Company as an engineer in the high-voltage laboratory. One of his first assignments was to design and construct an automatic 60 Hz sparkover test machine for the new line of surge arresters introduced that year by OB. He served as the guidance radar operator for the Terrier missile project at the White Sands Missile Range during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. Upon discharge from the Army he returned to OB as a sales and application engineer for all utility products. He became Product Manager for surge arresters in 1968 and this product became his primary focus for the next 25 years. During his career he arranged and participated in many arrester seminars in South America, South Africa, Canada, Mexico and in the US. He was the standards coordinator for the IEEE SPDC for over ten years, English Editor of the IEC standard, and a mentor. Active in national and international safety standards development, he was past chairman of the Codes and Standards Committee of NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association), member of the IEEE Standards Board, and had received the IEEE Standards Medallion, NEMA Kite and Key award and the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Meritorious Service Award. He retired from Ohio Brass Company (Hubbell Power Systems) in 1993 as Marketing Manager but continued as a standards consultant to Hubbell until 2006. Donald Worden Standards
Champion, Designer and Marketer of Low Voltage SPDs Don Worden
was a master at guiding standards development in the IEEE SPD. His leadership is matched by very few. When he retired from standards leadership 5
years ago, he left a legacy of published Don’s career includes design and installation of industrial facility and broadcast station low voltage power distribution systems; aircraft ground power units; development of electromechanical devices and instrumentation for aircraft, missile, and industrial systems. In 1970 he discovered surge protection and along with that, a lifelong passion. The following 30 years focused on development, application and marketing of surge protection to resolve a wide spectrum of reliability needs and operational problems in low voltage power, communications, data, signaling and control circuits. Don says “All of it was interesting; most of it was fun.” Words of Wisdom for future surge
protection engineers Find work that you enjoy and give it your full attention. Choose projects for which you have passion, even in difficult periods. Set realistic and measurable goals; evaluate your performance. Do not be afraid to innovate; progress frequently entails some risk. Learn from your accomplishments and your mistakes; never stop learning. Honesty, humor and hard work will contribute significantly to your success. Work for the benefit of all parties - in the long run, you will gain more than you give in knowledge, personal satisfaction and friendships. Note: Standards development and company projects have no room for those who participate solely to gain an advantage over their competition. December 2008 Engineer, Professor, Inventor and Founder of
TransiNor
Because his career spanned so many accomplishments, it is difficult to point at one as his most significant, but the founding of TransiNor along with two others entrepreneurs has to be close to the top of the list. As the managing director of the business from 1986 to 1995, he led its effort to introduce a technically superior arrester condition monitor that is still on the market today. The company specialized in transient analysis and related fields. TransiNor was purchased by the Dobel Company in 2001. Professor
Schei offers these “Words of Wisdom” to up and coming Engineers. “Engineers
are very lucky people; their job leads them to very interesting problems
especially when one must dig deep for the solution. Also never be surprised when the outcome of
an experiment is different from what you thought it would be. “ Full Citation can be found
here Eugene C Sakshaug High Voltage MOV Technology and Arrester
Designer
Gene’s words of wisdom for new engineers are very simple. “Work like hell, it’s a tough world.“
Misao Kobayashi Designer of the World’s First MOV Type High
Voltage Surge Arrester Misao Kobayashi has spent his entire 52 year career involved with surge arresters. When he was hired by Meidensha Corporation in April of 1954 little did he know he would be such a significant contributor to the surge protection industry. At 77 he is still an active member of the Japanese technical committees involved in the surge arrester industry. His first projects on surge arresters for Meidensha involved improvements on the mature Silicon Carbide Gapped Type arrester. In the late 60’s after the introduction to the world of MOV technology by the Matsushita Electric Co also of Japan, he took a look at it and decided that if they could do if for low voltage, he and his team could do it for high voltage applications. In 1975
Meidensha became the first company to introduce a high voltage MOV type
arrester. The units were installed on
a 66kV system and put into service at That success gave Japanese electric power companies prospects in developing highly reliable power systems and promoted the development and application of the new gapless arrester. Complete Hall of Fame
Citation Paper
on the Development of the First HV MOV Type Arrester Dr.-ing. Karl-Heinz Weck Expert in Insulation Coordination and IEC Standards Development
When Dr. Weck is in a standards meeting, there is no doubt that he is there. His input is substantial and substantive. His big voice carries a lot of weight and is universally respected. He has been the lead delegate of the IEC arrester technical committee for many many years and when there is a tough technical problem to tackle, you will find him in the middle of it searching for the correct and equitable solution. When there is a tough political problem to solve in standards, you will also find Dr. Weck leading the effort to resolve it. Dr. Weck has retired from FGH recently but remains active in the power systems world as a consultant. Dr. Weck’s words of Wisdom Although surge arresters represent one of the cheapest equipment in the power transmission and distribution system, its application as an overvoltage protection device for expensive apparatus as power transformers requires some of the most complex procedures in power engineering, called insulation co-ordination. For this task the future engineer needs to know power system construction and operation as well as external influences on the power system as lightning or pollution. Without these considerations an adequate overvoltage protection by surge arresters cannot be achieved. I wish that future electrical engineers will develop the same passion in this complex field as I always have myself. Complete Hall of Fame
Citation Dr. Michio Matsuoka Inventor of Zinc Oxide Varistor
During the mid 1960’s as the semiconductor industry produced lower and lower voltage devices, the need for better surge protection became a necessity. In 1965, at 29 years of age, Michio Matsuoka was assigned the task of finding the next generation of surge protection to meet the lower voltage requirements. A well thought out plan of attack was prepared with Zinc Oxide as the choice of ceramic material to be used. By March of 1967, the Zinc Oxide Varistor based on surface barrier properties had been developed and was ready for process optimization. In July of that year, during this process optimization, an oven being used to process the new surface barrier type ZnO varistor experienced a thermal-run-away. The resulting ZnO varistor had very different properties. After what had to be an exciting investigation, they discovered that Bi and Mn contained in the glass frit of the Ag paste had defused into the body of the ZnO and was responsible for these very different properties. This was the moment of discovery of today’s Zinc Oxide Varistor. This was just the beginning of the ZnO development that has lead to varistors lower than 5 volts and as high as 1.2 million volts. Dr. Matsuoko’s
Hall of Fame Citation is here. A
paper on the Discovery of ZnO grain boundary phenomena Andrew R Hileman
Before retirement in the early 2000s
his presence at IEEE and IEC meetings was larger than life. His depth of knowledge in power systems
went well beyond insulation coordination.
When he spoke in his unique raspy voice, he had everyone’s undivided
attention. His comments and guidance
in the business is among the best of the best. Even to this day, seldom does an insulation
coordination meeting go on without some reference to “What did Bob say in
chapter so-and-so on this subject?”
His contribution to standards continues on. Bob served on several IEC and IEEE
committees during his career. He was a
significant author of the IEEE Standard 1313.2. He was a significant member of the Surge
Protective Devices Committee. He served on the IEC committee that wrote
60071-1 and 60071-2. Both documents
related to insulation coordination. Bob served as the Chair of IEEE
Committee on Insulation Coordination. He was a fellow of the IEEE and an
active member in CIGRE. Prior to retirement Bob was a
professional engineer in Pennsylvania, his home state. A 1951 BSEE Lehigh University graduate, a
1955 MSEE University of Pittsburgh graduate, and after leaving Westinghouse
in 1989, a well known private consultant in the electric power industry. He spent over 40 years with the
Westinghouse Electric Corporation where he specialized in the study of
insulation coordination, switching overvoltages, lightning phenomena,
lightning protection, and high-voltage laboratory testing. While at Westinghouse he was a
co-developer of a new theory of the last step of the lightning stroke and
discovered the pre-discharge phenomena. He attended the University of
Berlin, Germany, in 1966/67 on a Lamme Fellowship to study high voltage
phenomena. He was at the forefront of the development of EHV transmission
systems and supervised analytical and field test programs for the initial
industry 345kV and 765kV projects. Bob authored more than 50 technical
papers, a lecturer in the graduate schools of several universities, and the
recipient of numerous awards and honors in the electric power field. As a lecturer for the Penn State
Advanced Power Engineering Program, Bob taught students from all over the
world.
Bob’s reputation and contribution to
the surge protection industry is inarguably “World Class” which makes him a
prominent and deserving member of the Surge Protection Hall of Fame. Bob is living quietly in Monroeville
PA with his lifelong wife Becky. He
and Becky have three daughters Judy, Linda and Nancy. Bob’s Hall of Fame
Citation is here. May 2008 Joseph L Koepfinger | ||||
Professor
Darveniza is inarguably the most famous lightning protection expert to ever
hail from Australia.
Besides
being a valuable asset to the surge protection industry and an extraordinary
arrester resource for many of us, John Posey can spot a spelling or grammar
error from 10,000 feet even if the document is facing away from him.
standards
that may never be matched.
Asle
Schei is a person known well in the IEC and CIGRE circles where he
participated, lead and convened working groups for nearly 30 years. His most
recent position in arrester standards was as Convenor of the now MT4 until
1995 which was responsible for all IEC medium and high voltage arrester
standards of significance at that time.
“The
influence of Gene Sakshaug in the early days of high voltage MOV arresters
was not subtle” said co-worker James Kresge.
the Hayato substation of Kyushu Electric
Power Co. 
Dr.
Weck has spent his entire career working to improve electrical power systems.
His first efforts were as an assistant professor at Darmstadt TU and then
through his leadership at 
In
July of 1967, at the Matsushita Electric Co. in Osaka Japan, a young
physicist named Michio Matsuoka and his team made a discovery that changed
the surge protection world forever.
