Andrew Freeman (March 10, 1909 – January 17, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and the inventor of the electric

block heater A block heater is used in cold climates to warm an engine prior to starting. They are mostly used for car engines; however they have also been used in aircraft engines. The most common design of block heater is an electrical heating element embed ...

for

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

s. Andrew L. Freeman was born in

Upham, North Dakota Upham is a city in McHenry County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 135 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Minot Micropolitan Statistical Area. Upham was founded in 1905. Geography According to the United States Census Burea ...

. He attended the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

, where he majored in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He served as general manager of Minnkota Power Cooperative from 1940 to 1982. Since 2004, Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc. has sponsored the Andrew Freeman Design Innovation Competition at the

College of Engineering and Mines. Freeman first developed a block heater around 1947, and received U.S. Patent #2487326 on November 8, 1949. In 1947, Freeman co-founded and served as president of Five Star Manufacturing Company of East Grand Forks, MN to manufacture headbolt heaters.

References

External links

UND Center for Innovation North Dakota Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
American electrical engineers University of North Dakota alumni Inventors from North Dakota 1909 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors Engineers from North Dakota {{NorthDakota-stub