Marius Lavet (February 8, 1894 in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

– February 14, 1980 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

who invented in 1936 the principle of

stepper motor A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor, is a brushless DC electric motor that divides a full rotation into a number of equal steps. The motor's position can be commanded to move and hold at one of these steps without any pos ...

. He studied at

Supélec École supérieure d'électricité, commonly known as Supélec (), was a French graduate school of engineering. It was one of the most prestigious grande écoles in France in the field of electrical engineering, energy and information sciences. ...

, the School of Electric Power, French private engineering school. A

can turn an electrical impulse in angular movement. This type of engine is very common in all devices where it is desirable to control the speed or position in open loop, usually in positioning systems. The invention of Lavet is enshrined in French Patent FR823395 and was instrumental, among other applications, for the development of watches with quartz mechanisms, using the principle known as the piezoelectric. Quartz watches dominate the world market today, due to their low price and high precision.

External links

Brevet fr 823395

L'Association Marius Levet
1891 births 1980 deaths Knights of the Legion of Honour French electrical engineers Scientists from Clermont-Ferrand {{France-engineer-stub