  arthur edwin kennelly (1861â1939), was an irish-american electrical engineer. ==biography== kennelly was born december 17, 1861 in colaba, in south mumbai, india and was educated at university college school in london. he was the son of an irish naval officer captain david joseph kennelly (1831â1907) and catherine gibson heycock (1839â63). his mother died when he was three years old. afterwards, in 1863, his father retired from the navy and later arthur and his father returned to england. in 1878, his father remarried to ellen l.spencer and moved the family to sydney, nova scotia on the island of cape breton when he took over the sydney and louisbourg coal and railway company limited. by his father's third marriage, arthur gained four half siblings, zaida kennelly in 1881, david j. kennelly, jr. in 1882, nell k. kennelly in 1883, and spencer m. kennelly in 1885. kennelly joined thomas edison's west orange laboratory in december 1887, staying until march 1894. while there, harold p. brown and he developed an alternating current driven method of execution, better known as the electric chair,moran, richard. executioner's current. thomas edison, george westinghouse and the invention of the electric chair. alfred a. knopf, new york, 2002, p. 94. to demonstrate that alternating current was more dangerous than the direct current transmission system that edison preferred. kennelly then formed a consulting firm in electrical engineering with edwin houston. together they wrote alternating electric currents (1895), electrical engineering leaflets (1896), and electric arc lighting (1902). in 1893, during his research in electrical engineering, he presented a paper on "impedance" to the american institute of electrical engineers (aiee). he researched the use of complex numbers as applied to ohm's law in alternating current circuit theory. in 1902, he investigated the ionosphere's radio spectrum's electrical properties, resulting in the concept of the kennellyâheaviside layer. also in 1902 kennelly was given the entire engineering charge of the expedition which laid mexican submarine cables on the route vera cruz-frontera-campeche;he also served as inspector for the mexican government during the manufacture of the cable. he was a professor of electrical engineering at harvard university from 19
1861_births 1939_deaths American_electrical_engineers American_people_of_Irish_descent Edison_Pioneers Harvard_University_faculty Howard_N._Potts_Medal_recipients IEEE_Edison_Medal_recipients IEEE_Medal_of_Honor_recipients People_educated_at_University_College_School