was a French chemist who revolutionized the petroleum refining industry by developing the first full-scale commercial catalytic cracker for the conversion of crude oil to gasoline in 1937. "Cracking" larger petroleum molecules into the shorter ones that constitute gasoline is a chemical process, as opposed to earlier processes that relied on heat. The Houdry process doubled the amount of gasoline produced from a given amount of feedstock. It also improved the gasoline octane rating, making it possible to produce today’s efficient, high-compression automobile engines.