Edward Gowen Budd (December 28, 1870 – November 30, 1946) was an American inventor and businessman. As an employee of Hale & Kilburn, he innovated the usage of stamped steel in the production of railroad cars for the Pullman Company and the Hupmobile, the first steel bodied automobile in the world. In 1912, he founded the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, and implemented the usage of stamped steel in the production of automobiles. In 1917, he founded the Budd Wheel Company to produce steel wire automobile wheels. He pioneered the fabrication of stainless steel and the shotweld process in the construction of the Pioneer Zephyr railroad cars. His factories converted to the production of steel based wartime materials during both World War I and World War II.
In 1944, he received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers award for outstanding engineering achievements. He was posthumously admitted to the Automotive Hall of Fame and National Railroad Hall of Fame.
Early life and education
Edward Gowen Budd was born in Smyrna, Delaware, on December 28, 1870. He showed interest at an early age in the mechanical trades. While working, he took courses at night in drafting and mechanical engineering at the Franklin Institute and the University of Pennsylvania.
Budd Company
On July 22, 1912, he founded the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, with $75,000 of his own money and $25,000 in investments. He recruited talent from Hale & Kilburn and brought Joseph Ledwinka over to his new company. They began making bodies for metal trucks for a local coal company but soon expanded to making steel automobile bodies for Garford Motors and Oakland Motor Car Company, a division of General Motors.
He was known to conduct promotional stunts of rolling the cars down hills and having an elephant stand atop the vehicles to show the strength of steel bodied automobiles.
thumb|Pioneer Zephyr
During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Budd pioneered the fabrication of stainless steel. The company partnered with American Aeronautical Corporation and implemented stainless steel in the construction of the Savoie Marchetti seaplane. He implemented stainless steel into the production of railroad cars and developed the shotweld process which allowed for thinner sheets of stainless steel to be combined without weakening the properties of the metal.
During World War II, Budd returned to manufacturing military equipment in his factories. He was the main maker of the bazooka rockets and the rifle grenade. His factories made artillery shells, aircraft components and a myriad of other military items. He partnered with the United States Navy to build the Budd RB Conestoga aircraft for military transport.
In 1944, he received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers award for outstanding engineering achievements.
Personal life
Budd married Mary Wright in May 1899. at his home in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. His stainless steel prototype airplane, the Budd BB-1 Pioneer, is on display outside the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Budd was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1985, and the National Railroad Hall of Fame in 2015.