Albert Kingsbury 
Albert Kingsbury, a UNH professor of mechanical engineering from 1889 to 1899, was internationally recognized as an expert on lubrication. During his years at the university, he invented the Kingsbury thrust bearing.
Amazing Bearings
In 1912 a 2.5-ton Kingsbury thrust bearing was first installed at the Holtwood Hydroelectric Station on the Susquehanna River. Still operating smoothly today, the bearing has an estimated life expectancy of 1300 years - without maintenance. It uses a thin film of oil to support the massive weight it carries - 220 tons or more - and virtually eliminate mechanical wear. Prior to Kingsbury's invention, rolling bearings in similar applications would wear out approximately every two months.
In 1987, the American Society of Mechanical Engineering made the Kingsbury thrust-bearing at Holtwood Station an international historic landmark, and published an illustrated brochure on the subject.
Over the years many more of Kingsbury's fluid-film bearings were installed in power plants, ships, and large machinery around the work. Kingsbury, Inc., is still manufacturing thrust and journal bearings today.
Tribologist and Polyglot
The father of five daughters, Kingsbury could read in more than seven different languages and was an expert on the French poet Mallarme. He was granted more than 45 patents for methods of bearing construction. Born in Illinois in 1863, he apparently became interested in tribology - the science of friction, lubrication, and wear - as a mechanical engineering student at Cornell. He ultimately received two honorary doctorates for his contributions in the field. Kingsbury died in 1943.