![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/%25D0%25AD%25D0%25BC%25D0%25B8%25D0%25BB%25D1%258C_%25D0%2593%25D0%25B0%25D0%25BD%25D1%258C%25D1%258F%25D0%25BD.jpg/640px-%25D0%25AD%25D0%25BC%25D0%25B8%25D0%25BB%25D1%258C_%25D0%2593%25D0%25B0%25D0%25BD%25D1%258C%25D1%258F%25D0%25BD.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Émile Gagnan
French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Émile Gagnan (1900 – 1984) was a French engineer and, in 1943, co-inventor with French Navy diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau of the Aqua-Lung, the diving regulator (a.k.a. demand-valve) used for the first Scuba equipment.[1] The demand-valve, or regulator, was designed for regulating gas in gas-generator engines, but was found to be excellent for regulating air-supply under varied pressure conditions. This allowed people to explore the ocean more easily, even though the original purpose was different.[2]
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2018) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/%D0%AD%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C_%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BD.jpg/640px-%D0%AD%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C_%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BD.jpg)
Gagnan was born in the French province of Burgundy in November 1900, and graduated from technical school in the early 1920s. He was employed as an engineer specializing in high-pressure pneumatic design by the large gas-supply firm Air Liquide. The first production 'Scaphandre Autonome' - or 'Aqualung' was released in France in 1946 under the identification code "CG45" ("C" for Cousteau, "G" for Gagnan and "45" for 1945, year of the patent).
A year later, in 1947, Émile Gagnan and his family emigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada and he transferred to the employ of Canadian Liquid Air Ltd. There he set up a lab and proceeded to engineer, design, prototype and patent a very large number of SCUBA and undersea technology firsts, including the direct ancestors of virtually every type of Scuba regulator in common use today.[3]