1911-1990

American mechanical engineer and inventor who specialized in plastics (and was the brother of the artist Andrew Wyeth). In 1936 he received his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania. Employed by duPont from 1936 until his retirement in 1976, he developed several basic manufacturing processes and earned 25 patents. His research in the 1960s into the extrusion of nonwoven fibers led to the development of plastic shotgun shells. In 1973 he patented the biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle, which became familiar as a container for carbonated beverages.