At DuPont he also was responsible for the development of Duco lacquers and enamels, the first practical colored paints for mass-produced automobiles.

[5] He led the advancement of practical, lightweight two-stroke diesel engines, revolutionizing the locomotive and heavy equipment industries.

When his eye condition improved, he was able to return to his studies and graduated from OSU in 1904 with an electrical engineering degree.

Kettering was hired directly out of school to head the research laboratory at National Cash Register (later known as NCR Corporation).

He attributed his success to a good amount of luck but added, "I notice the harder I work, the luckier I get.

[11] In 1909, Kettering resigned from NCR to work full-time on automotive developments, and the group incorporated as Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, or Delco.

Byron Carter, founder of Cartercar, died from complications after such an accident in Detroit's Belle Isle park.

[14] Kettering's key insight lay in devising an electrical system performing the three functions it still serves in modern cars: starter; producer of spark for ignition; and source of current for lighting.

[15] Leland ordered 12,000 self-starters for his 1912 models; Delco had to then transition from its research and development activities to production.

Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position that he held until his death in 1958.

Kettering became vice-president of General Motors Research Corporation in 1920 and held the position for 27 years.

[18] The GM "copper-cooled" automotive engine used fans forcing air across copper fins for heat dissipation.

[18] Air-cooled engines have had commercial success before and since, used widely in such applications as lawnmowers, small aircraft, and automobiles - notably the Volkswagen Beetle and many generations of Porsche sports cars.

Kettering's research in fuel was based on his belief that oil would be in short supply and additives would allow more efficient engines with higher compression.

[19] Thomas Midgley Jr. and Kettering identified tetraethyllead (TEL) in December 1921 as an additive that would eliminate engine knocking at a dilution of one thousand to one.

Kettering and Midgley secured its patent and proceeded to promote the use of TEL as an additive instead of other options.

[20] Kettering became the first president of the newly founded Ethyl Corporation that started to produce TEL in 1923.

[21] One year later, he hired Robert A. Kehoe as the medical expert to proclaim that leaded gasoline was safe for humans.

In the late 1990s, the house largely destroyed in a fire, and was rebuilt with serious deviation from the original blueprints to accommodate its current use as a conference center.

After his death, his body lay in honor at the Engineers Club and then was interred in the mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.

[citation needed] Max D. Liston, one of Kettering's co-workers at GM, described him "one of the gods of the automotive field, particularly from an inventive standpoint.