Charles L. Coffin of Detroit was awarded for an arc welding

Arc welding

Arc welding is a type of welding that uses a welding power supply to create an electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt the metals at the welding point. They can use either direct or alternating current, and consumable or non-consumable electrodes...

 process using a metal electrode

Electrode

An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit...

. This was the first time that metal melted from the electrode

Electrode

An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit...

 carried across the arc to deposit filler metal in the joint to make a weld. About the same time, N.G. Slavianoff, a Russian, presented the same idea of transferring metal across an arc, but to cast metal in a mold.