Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corp this year celebrates its 100^th anniversary of providing customers around the world with innovative and sustainable products and systems. Founded as a small axle business in 1911, Eaton has evolved to become a global power management company and a leader in energy-efficient technologies that help its customers use power more safely and effectively. “Our company has grown and changed considerably during its first 100 years, but we remain dedicated to the spirit of innovation and ideals that inspired Joseph Eaton,” said Alexander M. Cutler, Eaton Chairman and CEO. “His investment in a new idea in transportation – the first gear-driven truck axle – established a foundation for growth that we continue to build upon today as a values-based, global company.”Key technology and business highlights throughout Eaton’s first century include the following:

• Joseph Eaton’s 1911 investment in Torbensen Gear and Axle, the precursor to Eaton Corp, led to commercialisation of efficient, breakthrough technology in the truck market
• Global growth began in 1946, when Eaton acquired an interest in a motor pump and gear company in the UK
• The first passenger car air conditioner affordable enough for the average consumer was an Eaton product, introduced in 1952
• Eaton was NASA’s choice in 1978 to design and build a new landing system for the space shuttle; in further collaboration, Eaton developed a prototype electric vehicle (EV) propulsion system, unveiled on NASA’s EV prototype in 1989
• Shanghai was the site of Eaton’s first wholly owned business in China in 1997; Eaton in 2008 opened a new Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Shanghai that has received Gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
• Sustainable vehicle projects accelerated for Eaton in the early 2000s, as the company developed the first hydraulic hybrid power system for delivery trucks and brought its leading hybrid technology to fleets of city buses in China; today Eaton hybrid-powered commercial and transit vehicles have logged more than 160 million kilometres of service worldwide and reduced diesel fuel consumption hugely
•  Eaton is working with the world’s leading aerospace manufacturers to make air transportation safer, more reliable and more energy-efficient; the company expanded that roster in 2010 by creating a joint venture to support China’s new aircraft industry
• Eaton hydraulic equipment played a critical role in the dramatic rescue last fall of a group of trapped Chilean miners; rigs equipped with Eaton products drilled the initial borehole that allowed rescuers to locate the miners and later were used to widen the shaft that eventually freed them
•  With electric vehicles rapidly entering the market, Eaton is deploying its family of EV charging stations for use in homes, businesses and on the road, helping to build the infrastructure vital to the advancement of this new mode of transportation
• Eaton’s new fully automated heavy-duty transmissions enable operators to drive and navigate a broad range of heavy-duty trucks safely and more efficiently.

“As we celebrate our company’s centennial, Eaton people around the world are building upon our heritage of innovation and expertise,” said Cutler. “We look forward to building further momentum for our most impactful technologies that will help our customers everywhere manage rising energy costs and address some of the world’s toughest power management challenges.”

Eaton is a global technology leader in electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety.