Lloyd Mandeno

Lloyd Mandeno (3 October 1888 – 30 December 1973) was a New Zealand electrical engineer, inventor and local politician. He was born in Rangiaowhia, Waikato, New Zealand, on 3 October 1888. He is credited with nine hydroelectric installations and numerous inventions. He served on electric power boards, regional councils and as a deputy mayor.

Mandeno was born at Rangiaowhia, near Te Awamutu in the Waikato region to a farming family. He studied at St John's Collegiate School in Auckland and started at Auckland University College in 1905. The following year he transferred to Canterbury College from where he graduated in 1912 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. He married Constance Mary Woodward at Mangere in 1913. This form of grid uses only a single wire, and made rural electrification dramatically more affordable and commonplace. It improves the standard of living of rural families. SWER is now used in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Brazil and some parts of the United States. In New Zealand, SWER is sometimes called "Mandeno's clothesline."

Mandeno was Chief Electrical Engineer at Frankton Power Station from 1913 to 1916. He promoted all-electric buildings, and invented, then improved an early electric storage water heater. He was a very early user of prefabricated steel poles. He invented molds to cast concrete poles on site. At Kaikohe he used New Zealand's first pole-erecting machine. On Urupukapuka Island in the Bay of Islands, he installed a submarine cable to Zane Grey’s fishing camp. He arranged the North Island's first electric milking shed and sawmill. Chateau Tongariro and its ski-lifts were powered by his systems. He developed high-pressure hot-water systems for Auckland and Tauranga hospitals.

In the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours, Mandeno was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to engineering.

In 1970, his wife Constance died. In 1973, Lloyd Mandeno died. He was survived by his three children - all sons.