Edwin Augustus Stevens was an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur who left a bequest that was used to establish the Stevens Institute of Technology.

At an early age Stevens was entrusted by his father with the family business affairs, and in 1821 at the age of 26 he assumed full responsibility for the Stevens estate in Hoboken and other properties. Also in 1821, he developed the "Stevens plow," a cast-iron plow with a curved moldboard and replaceable heel piece. The plow was popular among New Jersey farmers. He went on to design many other technological innovations, such as the “two-horse dump wagon” for New York City; the "closed fire-room” system of forced draft for his family's steamboat fleet; and the "vestibule car" for the Camden and Amboy Railroad.

Following the death of Colonel Stevens in 1838, Edwin and his brother Robert worked on a commission from the United States government to construct the nation's first ironclad naval vessel. After conducting tests to determine the amount of armor a vessel needed to defend itself against naval guns, the two brothers constructed a huge vessel known as the Stevens Battery. Though the craft was never fully completed, it nevertheless laid the groundwork for the modern armored warship. A scaled-down version, the USS Naugatuck, saw limited action in the Civil War. After the war, the Naugatuck and the Battery were sold for scrap.

Stevens was part of the syndicate from the New York Yacht Club that built and raced the schooner-yacht America. His brother, John Cox Stevens, was the head of the syndicate and the NYYC's first Commodore. Edwin Augustus also served as Commodore of the NYYC, resigning in 1866.

He died in Paris, France. His will left land adjoining his family estate, $150,000 for the erection of a building and $500,000 as an endowment for the establishment of an "institution of learning". Because of the Stevens family's close ties with engineering, the executors decided this would be an institution devoted to the "mechanical arts". A building on the Stevens campus now stands as The Edwin A. Stevens Hall, which houses the school of engineering for the Institute. Also in this building is the renowned "DeBaun Auditorium", which is over 100 years old, and has been refurbished to what it would have looked like when first constructed.

In early life, associated with his brother, Robert L, in engineering work; widely known as an inventor; patented the Stevens plow; originated numerous mechanical devices which he employed in the operation of the Camden and Amboy R. R. with which he was long identified; in 1842, patented his air-tight fire room for the use of forced draft on steam boats. Congress, the same year, authorized a contract with the Stevens; Brothers for the construction of an iron clad vessel, the first of the kind ever projected; not completed owing to numerous changes in contract and specifications; at the beginning of the Civil War, presented the government with a small vessel, the Naugatuck, with which he demonstrated the feasibility of his plans and which was one of the fleet which attacked the Merrimac in the famous naval battle at Hampton Roads; distinguished also as a financier of unusual executive ability; was trustee of his father's estate, manager of a line of steam boats plying between New York and New Brunswick, and of a line of stages between the latter city and Philadelphia, and later, of the Camden and Amboy R. R.; founder of Stevens Institute in Hoboken, to which he bequeathed a large plot of land, supplementing the gift with $650,000 in addition, for building and endowment.