Andrew Freeman (March 10, 1909 – January 17, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and the inventor of the electric

block heater A block heater is used in cold climates to warm an engine prior to starting. They are mostly used for car engines; however they have also been used in aircraft engines. The most common design of block heater is an electrical heating element embed ...

for

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 ...

s. Andrew L. Freeman was born in Upham, North Dakota. He attended the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of N ...

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city of ...

, where he majored in electrical engineering. He served as general manager of

Minnkota Power Cooperative Minnkota Power Cooperative is an electrical generation and transmission cooperative based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It wholesales electric power to rural electric cooperatives in North Dakota and Minnesota. Member cooperatives Minnesota: : ...

from 1940 to 1982. Since 2004, Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc. has sponsored the Andrew Freeman Design Innovation Competition at the

College of Engineering and Mines. Freeman first developed a block heater around 1947, and received U.S. Patent #2487326 on November 8, 1949. In 1947, Freeman co-founded and served as president of Five Star Manufacturing Company of

East Grand Forks, MN East Grand Forks (also known as EGF) is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,176 at the 2020 Census, making it the largest community in Polk County. It is located in the Red River Valley region along the easter ...

to manufacture headbolt heaters.

References

External links

UND Center for Innovation North Dakota Entrepreneur Hall of Fame
American electrical engineers University of North Dakota alumni Inventors from North Dakota 1909 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors Engineers from North Dakota {{NorthDakota-stub