Page - 42 - in Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

42 With his visionary ideas and inventions, Tesla substantially shaped electrical engineering for decades. In TU Graz’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of today, Tesla’s discoveries are being passed on to the students and most of the research deals with technological applications and implementations which can be attributed to Tesla. A great importance is thus attached to the Nikola Tesla Laboratory, which belongs to the Insti- tute of High Voltage Engineering and System Performance, since Tesla’s most important experiments are regularly reproduced in this unique high-voltage testing laboratory, thus expressing the deep connection of Graz University of Technology to its former student, who was awarded a honorary doctorate in 1937. The high-voltage testing laboratory was named after Tesla in 2006 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth. The development of electrical engineering from 1850 to 1950 was driven for- ward by the achievements of several big figures. The scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs subsequently described here – in additional to Tesla – were re- sponsible for a substantial part of the scientific and industrial development of the time. • Werner von Siemens (1816 – 1892): German inventor and industrialist who developed the first electrical generator in 1866 on the basis of the electro- dynamic principle which he had discovered and is regarded as the pioneer of electrical engineering. • James Clerk Maxwell (1821 – 1879): Scottish physicist who formulated the mathematical foundations of electricity and magnetism, which were first published as Maxwell’s equations in 1864. • George Westinghouse (1846 – 1914): American engineer, inventor and in- dustrial magnate. He acquired Tesla’s patents and marketed them together with his own ideas. In this way he helped the transmission of electrical energy using polyphase alternating current to achieve a worldwide breakthrough. • Thomas Alva Edison (1847 – 1931): American entrepreneur and inventor in the field of electricity and electrical engineering. His direct current techno- logy electrified the lighting systems of a number of cities and drove motors. In 1882, New York’s first central direct current power station was started up, and he conducted the so-called War of Currents against Tesla and Westinghouse over many years. Development of electrical engineering from 1850 to 1950