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 Edmund O. Schweitzer III (born 1947, Evanston, Illinois) is an Electrical engineering, electrical engineer, inventor, and founder of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL). Schweitzer launched SEL in 1982 in Pullman, Washington. Today, SEL manuf ...

, SEL shipped the world's first

digital protective relay In utility and industrial electric power transmission and distribution systems, a numerical relay is a computer-based system with software-based protection algorithms for the detection of electrical faults. Such relays are also termed as micropr ...

. Presently, the company designs and manufactures

embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' as ...

products for protecting, monitoring,

control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controllin ...

, and metering of electric power systems. The company serves a variety of industries, including utilities, pulp and paper, transportation, water and wastewater, education, healthcare, government, mission-critical facilities, and oil, gas, and petrochemical operations. SEL is 100 percent employee owned, headquartered in

Pullman, Washington Pullman () is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Thr ...

, with about 2,300 based there in addition to 2,700 employees in field offices and other manufacturing facilities in about 60 national locations, in addition to another 50 international.

History

SEL was founded in Pullman, Washington in 1982 when Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer III invented and marketed the first all-

. Schweitzer created the relay as a Ph.D. project while at

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

. He sold his first product, the SEL-21, to

Otter Tail Power Company Otter Tail Corporation is an energy company based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Its main subsidiary is the Otter Tail Power Company. As of 2007, Otter Tail Power Company serves at least 423 towns at retail and delivers powe ...

in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1984. Otter Tail initially used the SEL-21 for its fault location and event recording functions. In 1985, SEL built its first building and employed eleven people. In 2009, SEL became 100% employee-owned under an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Em ...

(ESOP). SEL has five manufacturing facilities in the U.S. located in Pullman, Washington; Lewiston, Idaho; Lake Zurich, Illinois, and West Lafayette, Indiana. In 2003, the company opened its first Regional Integration Center in San Luis Potosí, followed by May 2017 opening in Saudi Arabia city of Dammam with a peak manufacturing ablitiy for 1,200 control panels. With Mexico to build complete panels and PowerMAX for all of North America. The components for the panels are made in Pullman and shipped to Mexico, where they are integrated into panels. 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.

Products

SEL designs, manufactures and supports products for protection, monitoring, control, automation, and metering of electric power systems, ranging from comprehensive generator and transmission protection to distribution automation and control systems.

Operations

SEL is headquartered in Pullman, Washington. As of December 2016, it had operations in 24 countries and 4,600 employees worldwide. And has sold products and services in roughly 148 countries at that time. The company operates five manufacturing facilities in the U.S. located in Pullman, Washington, Lewiston, Idaho, Lake Zurich, Illinois, and West Lafayette, Indiana; with additional Regional Integration Centers located in Charlotte, NC, USA with expansion project in (2017). With International integration centers in San Luis Potosí, Mexico (2003), Campinas, Brazil; Bogota, Colombia; and Khobar, Dammam Saudi Arabia (May 2017).

Literature

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. The company's other published works include: ''Line Current Differential Protection: A Collection of Technical Papers Representing Modern Solutions,'' edited by Héctor J. Altuve Ferrer, Bogdan Kasztenny, and Normann Fischer; ''Analyzing and Applying Current Transformers,'' by Stanley Zocholl; and ''AC Motor Protection'', by Stanley Zocholl. Additionally, hundreds of technical papers, white papers, application notes, and case studies authored by SEL employees are published on the company website.

Awards

2012: Fortune's 100 Best Companies To Work For (SEL ranked #97) 2013: American Red Cross Inland Northwest Chapter 2012-2013 International and National Relief Award 2014: Association of Washington Business 2014 Better Workplace Award 2015: Fortune's 15 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing and Production 2015: United States Energy Association 2015 USEA Corporate Volunteer Award 2016: Fortune's 15 Best Workplaces in Manufacturing and Production 2016: Fortune's 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials 2016: Fortune's 20 Best Workplaces for Baby Boomers 2016: Palouse Knowledge Corridor Entrepreneur of the Palouse Award For more than a decade, North American electric utilities have ranked SEL as the #1 relay manufacturer in the Newton-Evans Worldwide Study of the Protective Relay Marketplace in Electric Utilities.

References