Kettering Tutors

About Kettering

Kettering, Ohio is a city named after Charles F. Kettering. You may have never heard of Kettering, but you have more than likely enjoyed the benefits of his inventions. Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and held 186 patents. At first, Kettering was a high school teacher and was known to be extremely engaging. He would even invite his students to come to evening scientific demonstrations; tutoring them in subjects like electricity, heat, magnetism and gravity. His early enthusiasm for science, would foreshadow a lifetime of experimentation and breakthrough.

Later, Kettering attended the College of Wooster before transferring to Ohio State University. Unfortunately, problems with his eyes forced him to stop taking classes. He took a job as the foreman of a telephone line crew and despite being depressed over dropping out, he found a way to apply his electrical engineering skills on the job. When his eyes improved, he was able to go back to Ohio State, where he graduated with an electrical engineering degree.

Kettering worked several jobs in his career and was able to apply his creative ingenuity at each one. His first job after college was in the research laboratory at National Cash Register. In the five years he worked for NCR, Kettering earned twenty-three patents for the company. Kettering would later say that he attributed his success to good luck. He was quoted as saying, “I notice the harder I work, the luckier I get.” While at NCR, Kettering was encouraged by a colleague to work on improving the early automobile. Eventually, a group of engineers was created, who would later become incorporated as the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, or Delco. While working with Delco, Kettering helped create the electric starter in automobiles. The hand crank starter was dangerous; and a new system was needed. Kettering and his colleagues came up with a way to get the car going that was safe, compact, and ingenious.

Delco would eventually be bought by General Motors where Kettering became the head of research. He would go on to invent several more highly useful and impressive things like, leaded gasoline, two stroke diesel engines, Freon refrigerant (which is used in refrigerators and air conditioning units), Duco lacquers and enamels, and the first practical colored paints for mass-produced automobiles. He also developed the “Bug” aerial torpedo, which is considered the world’s first aerial missile. He founded the Kettering Foundation, a nonpartisan research foundation; and also helped found what would become the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He believed that the American industrial research techniques could be used for cancer research. While many of Kettering’s inventions are taken for granted, the next time you turn on your air conditioner, open up your fridge, or get into a vehicle that isn’t black, you can think of him.

Kettering tutors want all students to discover their own academic genius. If your student is struggling in school, a Kettering tutor could be just what you need. Every student deserves the chance to succeed.