Daniel D. Friel was a chemical engineer for the DuPont Company who joined the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago in 1943.
Friel was assigned to design the optics for remote operations in Hanford's T-Plant, a state-of-the-art chemical separations facility. Under Charles M. Cooper and George Monk, Friel invented equipment based on preexisting military technology to see behind walls at the separation plant and the B Reactor.
After the war, Friel continued working for DuPont, where he invented the Automatic Clinic Analyzer, known as ACA, which analyzes body fluids such as blood and urine. He also worked on the Riston Dry Film Photo Resist used to make circuit boards.
In 1984, Friel founded the EdgeCraft Corporation and introduced the Chef'sChoice brand with the debut of its first electric knife sharpener in 1985. EdgeCraft now manufactures the world's largest selection of electric and manual knife sharpeners, electric food slicers, wafflemakers and hot beverage products.