Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
Encyclopedia
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) designs, manufactures, and supports products and services ranging from generator and transmission protection to distribution automation and control systems. Founded in 1982 by Edmund O. Schweitzer III
, SEL shipped the world's first digital protective relay
. Presently, the company designs and manufactures embedded system
products for protecting, monitoring, control, and metering of electric power systems. E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing, a manufacturer of fault indicators and sensors started by Edmund O. Schweitzer, Jr. in 1949, became a division of SEL in 2005.
, reducing the cost and complexity of power protection and revolutionizing the industry. Schweitzer created the relay as a Ph.D. project while at Washington State University. The company shipped its first products to Otter Tail Power Company in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1984. In 1985, SEL built its first building and employed eleven people. The company continues to grow and today provides products and services in 142 countries. In 2009, SEL became 100% employee-owned under an employee stock ownership (ESOP) plan.
SEL manufactures products for communications, and protection for transmission and distribution systems and apparatus protection. They also manufacture controllers for distribution voltage regulators.
In 2010, SEL published its first textbook, Modern Solutions for Protection, Control, and Monitoring of Electric Power Systems. SEL's quarterly Journal of Reliable Power also began in 2010.
Edmund Schweitzer
Edmund O. Schweitzer, III , is an electrical engineer, inventor, and founder of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. He obtained a B.S. and M.S. from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from Washington State University, where his doctoral thesis was on digital protective relays. He is an IEEE Fellow. ...
, SEL shipped the world's first digital protective relay
Digital protective relay
In electrical engineering of power systems, a digital protective relay uses a microcontroller with software-based protection algorithms for the detection of electrical faults...
. Presently, the company designs and manufactures embedded system
Embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system. often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
products for protecting, monitoring, control, and metering of electric power systems. E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing, a manufacturer of fault indicators and sensors started by Edmund O. Schweitzer, Jr. in 1949, became a division of SEL in 2005.
History
SEL was founded in Pullman, Washington in 1982 when Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer III invented and marketed the first all-digital protective relayDigital protective relay
In electrical engineering of power systems, a digital protective relay uses a microcontroller with software-based protection algorithms for the detection of electrical faults...
, reducing the cost and complexity of power protection and revolutionizing the industry. Schweitzer created the relay as a Ph.D. project while at Washington State University. The company shipped its first products to Otter Tail Power Company in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1984. In 1985, SEL built its first building and employed eleven people. The company continues to grow and today provides products and services in 142 countries. In 2009, SEL became 100% employee-owned under an employee stock ownership (ESOP) plan.
SEL manufactures products for communications, and protection for transmission and distribution systems and apparatus protection. They also manufacture controllers for distribution voltage regulators.
In 2010, SEL published its first textbook, Modern Solutions for Protection, Control, and Monitoring of Electric Power Systems. SEL's quarterly Journal of Reliable Power also began in 2010.