Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval (May 9, 1845 - February 2, 1913) was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and dairy machinery. He enrolled at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1863, receiving a degree in mechanical engineering in 1866. In 1882 he introduced his concept of an impulse steam turbine and in 1887 built a small steam turbine to demonstrate that such devices could be constructed on that scale. In 1890 he developed a nozzle to increase the steam jet to supersonic speed, working off the kinetic energy of the steam, rather than its pressure. The nozzle, now known as a de Laval nozzle, is used in modern rocket engine nozzles. De Laval turbines can run at up to 30,000 rpm. De Laval also made important contributions to the dairy industry, including the first centrifugal milk-cream separator and early milking machines, the first of which he patented in 1894. It was not until after his death, however, that the company he founded marketed the first commercially practical milking machine, in 1918. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1886. He also held the national office, being elected to Swedish parliament, from 1888-1890 and later became a member of senate. He died in 1913 at the age of 67.