Raymond Pearlson (born 2 March 1926) is an American marine engineer and the inventor of the
Syncrolift System, which was designed to both launch ships and lift them out of the water for repair.
Biography
Pearlson was born in 1926 in New York City. After three years war service in the Navy he studied naval architecture and marine engineering at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, graduating in 1949 with a B.Sc. degree.
He started his engineering career with the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company, spending the next few years working in various yard departments where he acquired a lot of practical shipbuilding knowledge. In 1953 he moved to work as Chief Engineer at
Merrill Stevens, a small shipyard in Miami, Florida, where he was entrusted with the construction of a 300-ton lifting capacity boatlift and transfer system. During the process he developed an innovative drydocking concept using simple electro-mechanical components to overcome the inherent limitations of lifting capacity and size.
In 1957, he designed and built the first Syncrolift shiplift with a lifting capacity of 100 tons, and in 1958 formed Pearlson Engineering Company (PECO) to develop his invention. PECO was taken over in 1959 by the British engineering group
Northern Engineering Industries
Northern Engineering Industries plc (NEI) was a British engineering firm, which for over 10 years was one of the largest employers on Tyneside. Its headquarters were based at the Regent Centre at Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne.
History
The com ...
, which later became part of
Rolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
. PECO became NEI Syncrolift, Inc. in 1986. In 1990 Pearlson and his son Douglas, President of the company, both left to form Pearlson and Pearlson, a shipyard consultancy specializing in drydocking and transfer systems.
Pearlson received the 2002
Elmer A. Sperry Award The Elmer A. Sperry Award, named after the inventor and entrepreneur, is an American transportation engineering prize.
It has been given since 1955 for "a distinguished engineering contribution which, through application, proved in actual service, ...
for the invention, development and worldwide implementation of the Synchrolift system.
He married his wife Marge and has five children.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearlson, Raymond
1926 births
Living people
People from New York City
University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni
Engineers from New York City
20th-century American inventors