Lew Urry (1927- )

Lew Urry graduated from the University of Toronto in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He got a job working for the Eveready battery division of Union Carbide in Toronto, then moved to Cleveland at the company's request in 1955, where he continued his research into creating a ‘better battery’.

Lew Urry developed the small alkaline battery in 1949. The inventor was working for the Eveready Battery Co. at their research laboratory in Parma, Ohio. Alkaline batteries last five to eight times as long as zinc-carbon cells, their predecessors.

Urry examined past failed attempts at creating an alkaline battery and experimented with different combinations, before discovering that powdered zinc was the best electrolyte. He changed the shape of the battery from a button to a cylinder, then gave a demonstration using toy cars in the company cafeteria. One car used the best battery at the time, carbon zinc, and the other contained his prototype. The car with the alkaline battery outperformed the other by a considerable margin.