Waukesha Motor Company advert in Automobile Trade Journal vol 20 1916

Waukesha is a brand of large stationary

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fe ...

s produced by INNIO Waukesha Gas Engines, a business unit of the INNIO Group. For 62 years, Waukesha was an independent supplier of gasoline engines,

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s, multifuel engines (gasoline/

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning " wax", and was re ...

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...

), and LNG/

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as ...

engines to many

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

heavy equipment Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

, and engine-generator manufacturers. In 1906, the Waukesha Motor Company was founded in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area tha ...

. In 1957, Waukesha bought the

Climax Engineering Co. Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community tha ...

of Clinton, Iowa, also a noted builder of large engines. In 1968, Waukesha Motor Company was acquired by the Bangor-Punta Corporation. In 1973, Waukesha sold the Climax division to the Arrow Engine Company. In 1974, Waukesha Motor Company was sold to Dresser Industries and became Dresser's Waukesha Engine Division; its typical nicknames afterward were Waukesha Engine and Dresser Waukesha. In 1989, Dresser acquired the Brons company of the Netherlands. In 2010, Dresser, including Dresser Waukesha, was acquired by GE Energy. On January 20, 2014,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

visited the plant where he gave a speech on increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. He also discussed wage equality for women. Afterwards he took a tour of the plant. On September 28, 2015, GE announced it was closing the plant for good and moving the engine manufacturing operations to Canada.
In November 2018 INNIO announced that Advent International has completed the acquisition of GE’s Distributed Power business, being a stand-alone energy company rebranded as INNIO. The transaction included the Jenbacher and Waukesha product lines, the digital platform and related services offerings, with main operating sites in Austria, Canada and the United States. Since July 2019 the Waukesha and Jenbacher business units service their segments and customers around the world as independent entities under the INNIO umbrella brand.

References

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External links

GE Energy Waukesha gas enginesWaukesha Engine Historical Society
Waukesha, Wisconsin Electrical generation engine manufacturers Gas engine manufacturers Engine manufacturers of the United States 2018 mergers and acquisitions Former General Electric subsidiaries