This is a story of engineering genius, upon which MEPCO’s line of superior Steam and Hydronic Specialties was built, starting in 1903. After 20 years of growth and prosperity, the company wrote to Purdue University, seeking to hire their top engineering student. That student was David Nelson Crosthwait, Jr., a person who had earned both his B.S and Masters of Engineering from Purdue.
A few months later Mr. David Crosthwait’s long and distinguished career as one of the foremost inventors and authorities on heat transfer, ventilation, and air conditioning began at MEPCO. Mr. Crosthwait, as director of research, invented an improved boiler, a new thermostat control, and a new differential vacuum pump, allowing more effective heating systems in larger buildings. He became well known for his innovations to heating and ventilation problems.
Mr. Crosthwait was commissioned to design the heating system for Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Over the course of his career, Mr. Crosthwait received 39 U.S and 80 foreign patents and authored a manual on heating and cooling with water guides, standards, and codes that dealt with heating, ventilation, refrigeration, and air conditioning systems. After retiring in 1971, Mr. Crosthwait taught a course on steam heating theory at Purdue University until his passing in 1976.
Mr. Crosthwait was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Purdue in 1975 for his lifetime achievements. He was also named a Fellow of the AAAS, served as a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers. Mr. Crosthwait is also listed as one of the Top 25 Black Scientists in America.
The world of heating began to move away from steam, which dominated central heating due to its inherent ability to travel through a system by its own kinetic energy, giving way to Hydronic Technologies. The steam produced by boilers could also be used to supply domestic hot water while hot water boilers were being introduced to share common distribution systems with the new chilled water Air Conditioning Systems.
With an eye toward these changes, the company embraced the new field and put their engineering staff to work on the task of pump and hydronic specialty design. Soon the brass foundry that had supported the company with trap and valve castings had a new product to pour: pump impellers, machined to gleaming perfection with unmatched craftsmanship to design specifications still exclusive to MEPCO.
While times have changed and CAD drawings have long since replaced hand-drawn ink on velum documentation, the values of innovation, quality, and longevity established long ago continue to be the guiding principles behind every product line engineered, manufactured, and sold by MEPCO.
From the first thermostatic trap perfected in 1903 has come the industry’s oldest line of designs, proven and tested in hundreds of thousands of buildings worldwide. From low pressure comfort to industrial process applications, MEPCO produces the depth and range of products to answer your steam and hydronic system requirements. Founded on engineering innovation, our company continues to produce the lasting quality and operational longevity that exceeds the working expectations of other brands.
MEPCO has retained the industry’s best and most consistent sales representatives for generations. With more than eight million products installed in schools, hospitals, government, and process facilities worldwide, specify MEPCO when you want the best. And remember that when you call a MEPCO Independent Sales Office, you will speak to a representative who has been trained in the science of steam.