Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) designs, manufactures, and supports products and services ranging from generator and transmission protection to distribution automation and control systems. Founded in 1982 by Edmund O. Schweitzer III, SEL shipped the world's first digital protective relay. Presently, the company designs and manufactures embedded system products for protecting, monitoring, control, and metering of electric power systems. E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing, a manufacturer of fault indicators and sensors started by Edmund O. Schweitzer, Jr. in 1949, became a division of SEL in 2005.

History

SEL was founded in Pullman, Washington in 1982 when Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer III invented and marketed the first all-digital protective relay, reducing the cost and complexity of power protection and revolutionizing the industry. Schweitzer created the relay as a Ph.D. project while at Washington State University. The company shipped its first products to Otter Tail Power Company in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1984, where they were first used only for their fault location and event recording functions. In 1985, SEL built its first building and employed eleven people. The company continues to grow and today provides products and services in 142 countries. In 2009, SEL became 100% employee-owned under an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).