George de Mestral

George de Mestral (June 19, 1907 - February 8, 1990) was an electrical engineer who invented Velcro.

Born near Lausanne, Switzerland, de Mestral designed a toy airplane at age twelve and patented it. He attended the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. After graduation he worked at a machine shop of an engineering company. In his spare time he was an amateur mountaineer, while enjoying the outdoors burrs often get stuck to his wool hunting pants and his dog's fur. Microscopic inspection of the burr's provided inspiration for the invention of a new fastner. People laughed at his idea, but that did not stop him. He later began his own company and in 1951 he successfully patented Velcro. He sold 60 million yards a year. It was a multi-million dollar company.