Sven Wingquist

Swedish engineer, Sven Wingquist. (1876-1953), had his start working in a textile mill. Frustrated by the performance of poorly designed ball bearings, he founded S.K.F. Industries in 1907. He sought to design his own solution, and ultimately created the prototype of what would become the world's first self-aligning ball bearing. Today such bearings are still manufactured by the company he created, and account for almost 20% of worldwide bearing sales.