Profiles of Historical Engineers

Nolan K. Bushnell (1943- )

Father of the Video Game Industry  Founded Atari in 1972 Launched video game revolution with Pong  Sold Atari in 1976 $28 million  Found Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant Sold after few years  Started over 20 companies since Atari main-intro-l.html

Credentials  Received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Utah  Attended Graduate school at Stanford  Lectures at major universities and corporations inspired others University of Utah

Thomas Alva Edison ( )

Man of Dreams and Determination  “If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”  Laid groundwork for technological advances used today

An Inventor’s Adventure  1862 at age 15, Edison left home to work as a telegrapher in Canada and U.S.  In 1869 he invented the Universal Stock Printer Automatically printed stock telegraphs Received $40,000 in compensation Edison in front of his Universal Stock Printer

Professional Inventor/Engineer  Created the cylinder phonograph and sold to Edison Speaking Phonograph Company Received $10, % of company profits  Income helped him focus on incandescent light bulb, most famous accomplishment

Greatest Engineer  1,093 patents  10 companies started  General Electric was one of the companies developed  “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

Leonardo da Vinci ( )

Weaponry envisionist  Helicopters, tanks, artillery and other weaponry envisioned  Handicap was inability to read Latin  Did not bother him, wanted to use his engineering skills to improve his environment Da Vinci Drawing on the His Mechanism for Flying

Leonardo’s Resume  Engineered hundreds of useful and useless devices  Hired as Painter and Engineer to the Duke  Produced spectacular shows for aristocracy that came to the Duke’s court.  Detailed over 5,000 pages of notes of conceivable inventions  Claims da Vinci made Construct movable bridges Remove water from moats Destroy anything not made of stone Make mortars Make flame throwers Design ships and weapons for sea Dig tunnels without making noise Sculpt and Paint

Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( )

Most Diverse and Capable Engineer in History  Designed variety of projects Railways to bridges and ships  Sent to college at the age of 14  Went to work as an apprentice at 16 in father’s engineering office  Advanced to resident engineer of Thames Tunnel at age 20

Competition  Brunel entered suspension bridge project over Avon Gorge  Top competitor, Thomas Telford, was also a judge on the competition panel  All Brunel’s designs rejected, Telford’s accepted  One design accepted in second contest

Designs and Advancements  Lead designer for Great Western Railway Designed everything for the project  Used fundamental logic and analysis to reshape mechanical and structural engineering of his time Reshaped art and technology of architecture  Brunel died at 53 without completion of Clifton Suspension Bridge

Charles Proteus Steinmetz ( )

Pioneer in Electrical Engineering  “No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.”  Research lead him to the development of theories for alternating current  Theories helped with inventions using electrical power

Valuable Engineer  Generator malfunctions and no technician knew how to fix  Retired Charles is called in to diagnose and fix the broken generator  Marked malfunctioned part with a Chalk “X”  Billed company $1000, who asked for itemized billing statement  “Marking chalk X on side of generator: $1. Knowing where to mark chalk X: $999.”

200 Electrical Patents  Electromagnetism work is greatest accomplishment  Devices to protect power lines from lighting strikes  Designs for electric vehicles Production work stopped at his death

Henry Ford ( )

Man on a Mission  Disliked school and farm life in hometown of Dearborn, MI  Moved to Detroit and became an apprentice in small engines shop  Moved home and opened own shop several years later  Designed first vehicle at Detroit Edison Company after working his way to Chief Engineer

Henry Ford’s Quadricycle  Buggy frame  4 bicycle tires as wheels  Lead to the opening of the Ford Motor Company in

Advancement’s in Society  Model T, “everyman’s car,” introduced in 1908 and stayed on market for 19 years Advancements in production technology allowed for better marketing of vehicle  1913, assembly line created and made production cheaper and more cars  Ford instituted minimum wage of $5.00/day and the 5-day workweek  Developed a franchise system to sell and service cars, well before McDonald’s opened

Dr. Robert Goddard ( )

Modern Rocket Inventor  His design to lift a rocket off the ground not using solid fuels  Bi-fuel system Fuel and oxidizer mixed right before ignition  Designs similar to his used in space vehicles, deliver warheads and satellites used in communication and espionage

Unrecognized Contributions  Contributed to theories and realization of rockets  Labors went unrecognized until dawn of “Space Age” Dr. Goddard at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, in

Wilbur ( ) and Orville ( ) Wright

Young Aeronautical Engineers  Curious with the work of Otto Lilienthal German scientist who tested kites and gliders  Both determined to design first flying model  Orville built first wind tunnel to test wing designs

Accomplishments  Credited for piloting first successful flight  Manner in which they went about testing should be considered greatest accomplishment  Flight would have never occurred without these practices aviationhistory.info/ Wright-photos.html

Grace Murray Hopper ( )

Those Computer Bugs  Computer engineer and Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy  Developed first computer compiler in 1952  Moth had jammed the works of an early computer Term “Bug” coined

Honors and Awards  Data Processing Management Association’s first Computer Science Man- of-the-Year Award  First woman and U.S. citizen to be made a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society  Multiple honorary doctorates from universities across nation  National Medal of Technology

Joseph B. Strauss ( )

The Golden Gate Bridge  Many engieers said costs could reach $100 million  Strauss’ (experience with 400 spans) design estimated $27 million  Strauss dedicated to financing, as the government had no funds for the project

Specifications  Provisional permit granted in 1924, opposition to project halted construction to start in 1933  Bridge spans 1,280 m  Connects San Francisco and Marin County  Weighs 887,000 tons  Long cables suspended through the air Enough to circle world 3 times

Leo Szilard ( )

Nuclear Engineer  Studied engineering in Budapest and Berlin  Left Germany for London to escape Nazi persecution  patented nuclear chain reaction  moved to New York City

The Manhattan Project  Worries of Germans developing first atomic bomb  Rushed U.S. to build first atomic bomb  December 2, 1942 the first controlled nuclear chain reaction developed  Advocated against use as a weapon