Pittsburgh, PA - March 13, 2008 - George Westinghouse is considered America's greatest industrialist and the only man who would go up against Thomas Edison, and win.His victory over Edison during the Battle of the Currents set the stage for the entire future of electric power. The Westinghouse air brake is considered one of the most important inventions in history and saved countless lives.
Writer, Director and Producer Mark Bussler has produced the first and only documentary film about George Westinghouse that brings this forgotten role model to the screen. (Information and trailer available at www.westinghousefilm.com)
“George Westinghouse is possibly the most important American of all time who has been lost to history. We celebrate inventors like Howard Hughes and Thomas Edison because they were dramatic and eccentric individuals.
Westinghouse was a kind, reserved engineer, inventor, businessman, husband and father. He wasn’t eccentric - but he did more to advance to United States’ industrial power than any person who ever lived.
At 22 years of age he saw thousands of lives lost in the railroading industry and created the air brake. He worked with Nikola Tesla and brought practical electricity into our homes.
Westinghouse built companies that manufactured generators, turbines and railroading devices. He created tens of thousands of jobs and built entire communities around them. Kids today could relate him to Bill Gates - yet without Westinghouse there would be no computers.
Today the world is electrified at a rate never before seen in human existence and most power is still generated by methods that were around 100 years ago. George Westinghouse is the role model that America’s students need today to face the engineering trials of the future.” says Bussler.
Westinghouse is a feature-length documentary that features rare and never before seen footage, industrial films and photos previously buried deep within the Westinghouse archives.
Filmed in High Definition, the film includes interviews with the following:
- Edward J. Reis, executive director, George Westinghouse Museum (1998-2007)
- William H. Terbo, grandnephew of visionary genius Nikola Tesla
- Quentin R. Skrabec, Jr., PhD, author, George Westinghouse: Gentle Genius
- Former Westinghouse employees
For additional information on the film, contact Julie Halapchuk at 412.967.2700 or jhalapch@inecom.com. For more information on this premiere, contact Sandra L. Baker at 412.454.6412 or slbaker@hswp.org.
