Alex Dow (April 12, 1862 – March 22, 1942) was a Scottish-born American mechanical and electrical engineer for the city of Detroit. He served as president of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via " continuing ...

in the year 1928-1929.

Biography

Dow was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Scotland as son of William Dow, a blacksmith, and Jean (Keppy) Dow in 1862. He emigrated to the US in 1882 at the age of twenty. In 1893 Dow was appointed the first plant manager of the first municipally-owned power plant in Detroit, and electrical engineer for the city of Detroit. The power plant had been built as a result of Hazen Pingree's efforts to break the power of corporations over

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

City politics. It was during this time that

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

worked under Dow at one of the Detroit Edison substations. Dow took Ford with him to the 1896 annual convention of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies being held that year in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was at this convention that Dow introduced Ford to

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

, the meeting with, and encouragement from, the great scientist becoming a great inspiration to Ford in completing his first car. Dow was appointed water commissioner for the city of Detroit in 1916-1921 and again in 1925-1932. In 1932, he was made the president of Detroit Edison and served until 1940. He was elected

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

for the 1928-1929 year. He was a member of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

American Institute of Electrical Engineers The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) was a United States-based organization of electrical engineers that existed from 1884 through 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) to form the Insti ...

Institute of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

(Great Britain), Institute of Mechanical Engineers (Great Britain). Dow also served as the President of The Engineering Society of Detroit from 1900-1901.

References

External links

Alex Dow
at ''Engineering and Technology History Wiki'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Alex 1862 births 1942 deaths American engineers Scottish emigrants to the United States Engineers from Glasgow Presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers IEEE Edison Medal recipients

Biography

References

Further reading

External links