Robert H. Park (March , 1902 – February 18, 1994) was an American

electrical engineer 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 ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, best known for the Park's transformation, used for simplifying the analysis of three-phase electric circuits. His related 1929 concept paper ranked second, when looking at the impact of all twentieth century power engineering papers. Park was an IEEE Fellow and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Park was born on March 15, 1902, in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, when his father urban sociologist

Robert E. Park Robert Ezra Park (February 14, 1864 – February 7, 1944) was an American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in early U.S. sociology. Park was a pioneer in the field of sociology, changing it from a pas ...

was studying in Germany. Back in the United States Park lived in

Wollaston, Massachusetts Wollaston, Massachusetts, is a neighborhood in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. Divided by Hancock Street or Route 3A, the Wollaston Beach side is known as Wollaston Park, while the Wollaston Hill side is known as Wollaston Heights. It is b ...

and earned in 1923 a degree in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After this he went to the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolo ...

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

to improve his knowledge on operational calculus. Park started working for General Electric, where he created his 1929 ''Park's transformation'' paper, followed by

Stone and Webster Engineering Stone & Webster was an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. It was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles A. Stone and Edwin S. Webster in 1889. In the early ...

in Boston as an electrical engineer and for

American Cyanamid American Cyanamid Company was a leading American conglomerate which became one of the nation's top 100 manufacturing companies during the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Fortune 500 listings at the time. It started in fertilizer, but added ...

as a chemical engineer doing physics research. During World War II he was involved in

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

development at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, resulting in 17 United States patents. After the war he became Director of Research Development and Engineering at the ''Emhart Manufacturing Company'' (1946), started working as independent consultant and manufacturer in automation (1953), and was president of ''Fast Load Control, Inc.'' active in

power system An electric power system is a network of electrical components deployed to supply, transfer, and use electric power. An example of a power system is the electrical grid that provides power to homes and industries within an extended area. The ...

s stability (1968). At the end, Park was able to generate 64 U.S. patents in a broad area of disciplines. Park received several awards and honors, which include the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award (1945), the election to IEEE Fellow (1965), the

IEEE Lamme Medal The initially called AIEE Lamme Medal was established in 1924 by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to recognize members for 'meritorious achievement in the development of electrical apparatus or machinery.' The medal was named i ...

(1972), “In recognition of his outstanding contributions to analysis of the transient behavior of a-c machines and systems,” and the election to member of the National Academy of Engineering (1986).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Robert H. 1902 births 1994 deaths American electrical engineers Fellow Members of the IEEE MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering IEEE Lamme Medal recipients 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors