The deep chill of Wisconsin winters inspired a patent application – filed on this date 130 years ago – that changed the world and created a company that offers a warm tale of sustained innovation.
Warren Johnson grew up on a western Wisconsin homestead in the mid-1800s and, later, became a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. On winter days at the college, a janitor had to manually check and adjust the furnace heat for every room, interrupting classes.
That led Johnson to invent the Electro Tele-thermoscope, the first thermostat to monitor room temperature. In time, that gave way to Johnson Controls, write Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft, and Carol Ann Browne, director of executive communications and public affairs at Microsoft. Their post is the first in a new LinkedIn series.
Today, Johnson Controls has a new world-leading set of technologies and services that enables its customers to manage their buildings reliability, efficiency and sustainability. This includes the company’s Smart Connected Chillers platform, which enables technicians to use digital tools and predictive analytics to identify early indicators of potential issues and address them before they become problems. And it includes new services that enable Johnson Controls itself to manage directly and electronically over 40,000 buildings across North America.
Read the full post on LinkedIn.
Bill Briggs
Microsoft News Center Staff