Georges Darrieus

Georges Jean Marie Darrieus (24 September 1888 to 15 July 1979) was a French aeronautical engineer of the twentieth century. He invented the Darrieus rotor, a wind turbine able to operate from any direction and under adverse weather conditions, and the vertical-axis giromill. The invention is described in United States patent 1,835,018 of 1931. Darrieus is also known for introducing laminated pressplates into the construction of the stators used in synchronous generators, which reduced core losses. His rotor design gave wind energy one of its two main turbine families, the vertical-axis type.