Today in History – July 29, 1958 – NASA is established. Before the launch of Sputnik, the United States felt confident in its position on space technology. The modern liquid fueled rocket had been invented in America by Robert Goddard. In addition Wernher von Braun, the developer of the successful German V2 rocket was working for the US Army’s rocket program. The view in Washington was that the government should only develop purely military rockets and leave the rest to the private sector. Wernher von Braun was even discouraged from developing rockets that could carry satellites. That all changed when the Soviet Union launch Sputnik on October 4, 1957. The United States had clearly lost its edge in space technology and it was decided that a new federal agency should be established for non-military space programs.

On July 29, 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eilene Galloway was instrumental in drafting the legislation and and making the case for its emphasis on international collaboration and peaceful exploration.

Many parts of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency were incorporated into NASA at its start, including the participation of Wernher von Braun. NASA quickly ramped up its human space flight program resulting in the launch of the first American in space on May 5, 1961, and the first American in orbit on February 20, 1962. One of NASA’s largest accomplishments was just seven years later with the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. During this short amount of time NASA helped America regain its confidence as a leader in space flight.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources on NASA. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – July 27, 2010 – Plastic bottle catamaran named “Plastiki” completes epic pacific crossing. A crew of experts, scientists, and creatives, led by visionary explorer David de Rothschild,  sailed over 12,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a boat made out of plastic bottles and recycled waste products. The name “Plastiki” was inspired by Thor Heyerdal’s 1947 epic expedition the Kontiki.

The purpose of this bold adventure was to draw attention to our carbon footprint with a focus on those ubiquitous PEP water bottles and the Pacific Garbage Patch.  The catamaran design was a pioneering example of sustainable design.

The team aims to captivate and inspire, as well as to motivate tomorrow’s environmental thinkers and doers to take positive action for the planet and be smart with waste. Ultimately, they hope to inspire people to rethink waste as a valuable resource. One person’s waste could be another person’s treasure.”

When teaching a course for engineering faculty in India, I used the problems of PEP water bottles as the week-long class project. Usually made of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), ~25g per bottle, these plastics use:

• 6.45 kg oil/ kg PET
• 294.2 kg water/ kg PET
• 3.723 kg Green House Gases/ kg PET
• and that’s not even including transportation!

You are welcome to use my slides. This problem is ubiquitous, and the solutions will be geographically and culturally depend. Makes a great project for human-centered sustainable design. Also allows for some creative designs that address the triple bottom line of planet, people and profit. My favorite case study is the formation and expansion of the TerraCycle company.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on Plastiki and  water bottles.  Or take a virtual tour of the Plastiki and learn how this boat survived the mighty ocean. Click on “hot spots” for more details on the catamaran design. For related educational resources, visit the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Education and Ocean Engineering Education disciplinary communities.

Also on this date on July 27, 1866, the First transatlantic cable was completed.

Today in History – July 26, 1969 – Moon rocks collected from Apollo 11 are first examined. A week earlier,  Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy’s challenge to put a “man” on the moon before the end of the decade. With a tight development and execution schedule, any number of things could have gone wrong. Instead, the major flaw, from the public’s knowledge,  was when there was some question about Armstrong’s historic words. At 10:56 p.m. EDT, with more than half a billion people watching on television, Armstrong takes the first step on the moon. Armstrong maintains that he said:  “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The press heard and quoted: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Listen and decide for yourself.  Aldrin joined him soon after and collected rocks that are still of value today. He described the lunar surface as “magnificent desolation“.

The moon walk and the Apollo mission accomplishments validated to the nation the importance of U.S. leadership in space exploration and the formation of NASA as a separate agency to head these efforts. Before the launch of Sputnik, the United States felt confident in its position on space technology. The modern liquid fueled rocket had been invented in America by Robert Goddard. In addition Wernher von Braun, the developer of the successful German V2 rocket was working for the US Army’s rocket program. The view in Washington was that the government should only develop purely military rockets and leave the rest to the private sector. Wernher von Braun was even discouraged from developing rockets that could carry satellites. That all changed when the Soviet Union launch Sputnik on October 4, 1957. The United States had clearly lost its edge in space technology and it was decided that a new federal agency should be established for non-military space programs.

On July 29, 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eilene Galloway was instrumental in drafting the legislation and and making the case for its emphasis on international collaboration and peaceful exploration.

Many parts of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency were incorporated into NASA at its start, including the participation of Wernher von Braun. NASA quickly ramped up its human space flight program resulting in the launch of the first American in space on May 5, 1961, and the first American in orbit on February 20, 1962. One of NASA’s largest accomplishments was just seven years later with the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. During this short amount of time NASA helped America regain its confidence as a leader in space flight.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources on NASA. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

In July – July 31, 1790 – first U.S. patent went to Samuel Hopkins for an improvement “in the making Pot ash and Pearl ash by a new Apparatus and Process.” President George Washington, Attorney General Edmund Randolph, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson signed the patent. Only two other patents were granted that year, one for a new candle-making process and the other the flour-milling machinery of Oliver Evans.

The Engineering Pathway has a number of educational resources on patents and inventors. I’m a big fan of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). NCIIA “fosters invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship in higher education as a way of creating innovative, commercially viable, and socially beneficial businesses and employment opportunities in the United States.” The website provides information on faculty and student grant opportunities, conferences and resources.

One question I’ve had is why do we not hear more about patents by women? It turns out that pior to the U.S. Patent Act of 1790, only men could author a patent. Even after the federal law was passed, women couldn’t patent as most states did not allow women to legally own property. For example, there is much speculation that the authorship of the cotton gin patent of 1794 should have included Catherine Greene on the patent, as well as that of the African American slaves who also were not allowed to patent. In fact, it was not until March 3, 1831 that Thomas Jennings became the first African-American to receive a patent for his invention of ‘dry-scouring’, a process better known today as dry-cleaning. See Chad-Eric Montgomery’s March 3rd blog on this event.

Mary Kies’ invention was a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. Alas the patent file was destroyed in the great Patent Office fire in 1836 and an exact copy of the patent is no longer available. Kies invention has been credited for boosting the U.S. hat industry. Even First Lady, Dolley Madison praised her contributions. Until about 1840, most of the other 20 patents issued to women concerned applications that women saw in their everyday work: apparel, tools, cook stoves, and fire places.

Below I highlight some of our other blogs on women’s contributions to engineering, computer science and entrepreneurship.

My daughter, Arianne Agogino Gieringer wrote the April 25th blog on Florence Rena Sabin, the first woman elected to National Academy of Science. Dr. Florence Rena Sabin, Professor of Histology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School was also the first woman to be a full professor in that institution and also the first woman to be President of the American Association of Anatomists.

Patricia Galloway, first female president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), blogs on Elsie Eaves – first female engineer in ASCE to be elected as a full member on March 14, 1927.

Lucy Sanders, CEO of the Center for Women in Information Technology blogs on the unveiling of the ENIAC on February 14, 1946, the world’s first digital electronic computer, as well as on the contributions of women in computing.

Jasmina Vujic, Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley, blogs on Lise Meitner and her groundbreaking publication that first introduced the world to nuclear fission on February 11, 1939.

Chad-Eric Montgommery blogs on two African American women. On March 1, 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first African American woman to receive a medical degree. Also see the blog on Sara Breedlove Walker, the first self-made millionairess hair product inventions for African American women.

Pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Helen Taussig, was one of the doctors at Johns Hopkins who performed the first open heart surgery on November 29, 1944.

I enjoyed researching the blog for November 13, 1913 – Mary Phelps Jacobs invents modern bra. And also for the one on Dr. Mary Walker, the first female army surgeon to be awarded the Medal of Honor on November 11, 1875.

Check out the Engineering Pathway‘s many educational resources on women in engineering, women in information technology, women inventors and gender equity. One of my favorite resources is FairerScience, with practical advice on how to develop gender equitable classrooms and practices in math, science and engineering.

For a more in-depth analysis of the issues associated with gender equity in our faculties and recommended solutions, read our “most commented” resource – the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report. My editorial on the report was published in ASEE Prism, November 2006, vol. 16 (3). We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions as well.

Also on this date in 2008 – QinetiQ breaks unofficial world record for unmanned flight over three and a half days US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on unmanned flight. Or view curricular resources at the Aerospace Engineering Education Community site.

Today in History – July 23, 1995- National Inventors Hall of Fame opens in Alexandria, Virginia at the United States Patent and Trademark Office,  honoring “the women and men responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible.”

The museum’s most recent exhibit includes materials from Michael Jackson’s patent and trademark applications.  Did you know that Jackson is the co-inventor of a “system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface”?

The Engineering Pathway has a number of educational resources on patents and inventors. I’m a big fan of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). NCIIA “fosters invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship in higher education as a way of creating innovative, commercially viable, and socially beneficial businesses and employment opportunities in the United States.” The website provides information on faculty and student grant opportunities, conferences and resources.

One question I’ve had is why do we not hear more about patents by women? It turns out that pior to the U.S. Patent Act of 1790, only men could author a patent. Even after the federal law was passed, women couldn’t patent as most states did not allow women to legally own property. For example, there is much speculation that the authorship of the cotton gin patent of 1794 should have included Catherine Greene on the patent, as well as that of the African American slaves who also were not allowed to patent. In fact, it was not until March 3, 1831 that Thomas Jennings became the first African-American to receive a patent for his invention of ‘dry-scouring’, a process better known today as dry-cleaning. See Chad-Eric Montgomery’s March 3rd blog on this event.

Mary Kies’ invention was a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. Alas the patent file was destroyed in the great Patent Office fire in 1836 and an exact copy of the patent is no longer available. Kies invention has been credited for boosting the U.S. hat industry. Even First Lady, Dolley Madison praised her contributions. Until about 1840, most of the other 20 patents issued to women concerned applications that women saw in their everyday work: apparel, tools, cook stoves, and fire places.

Below I highlight some of our other blogs on women’s contributions to engineering, computer science and entrepreneurship.

My daughter, Arianne Agogino Gieringer wrote the April 25th blog on Florence Rena Sabin, the first woman elected to National Academy of Science. Dr. Florence Rena Sabin, Professor of Histology in the Johns Hopkins Medical School was also the first woman to be a full professor in that institution and also the first woman to be President of the American Association of Anatomists.

Patricia Galloway, first female president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), blogs on Elsie Eaves – first female engineer in ASCE to be elected as a full member on March 14, 1927.

Lucy Sanders, CEO of the Center for Women in Information Technology blogs on the unveiling of the ENIAC on February 14, 1946, the world’s first digital electronic computer, as well as on the contributions of women in computing.

Jasmina Vujic, Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley, blogs on Lise Meitner and her groundbreaking publication that first introduced the world to nuclear fission on February 11, 1939.

Chad-Eric Montgommery blogs on two African American women. On March 1, 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first African American woman to receive a medical degree. Also see the blog on Sara Breedlove Walker, the first self-made millionairess hair product inventions for African American women.

Pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Helen Taussig, was one of the doctors at Johns Hopkins who performed the first open heart surgery on November 29, 1944.

I enjoyed researching the blog for November 13, 1913 – Mary Phelps Jacobs invents modern bra. And also for the one on Dr. Mary Walker, the first female army surgeon to be awarded the Medal of Honor on November 11, 1875.

Check out the Engineering Pathway‘s many educational resources on women in engineering, women in information technology, women inventors and gender equity. One of my favorite resources is FairerScience, with practical advice on how to develop gender equitable classrooms and practices in math, science and engineering.

For a more in-depth analysis of the issues associated with gender equity in our faculties and recommended solutions, read our “most commented” resource – the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report. My editorial on the report was published in ASEE Prism, November 2006, vol. 16 (3). We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions as well.

Also on this date in 2008 – QinetiQ breaks unofficial world record for unmanned flight over three and a half days US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on unmanned flight. Or view curricular resources at the Aerospace Engineering Education Community site.

Back in April, Alice and I discussed the founding date issue. It is absolutely obvious that Microsoft started out in 1975. It is absolutely impossible to pick a specific date within that year as “the” date. Imagine yourself as a 19-year-old, with your 22-year-old friend, starting out in a new business venture. You haven’t hired a venture fund manager, or a PR firm, and your sister ends up doing your tax forms for the year. You see a magazine article which sparks an idea for a product. You make an oral agreement with a company to deliver that product, and you give it to them when it’s done. A couple of months later it gets written up in a newsletter or two. Somebody likes your new product enough to lift a copy of your paper tape out of your marketing van and starts passing out copies. Eventually, you write up a formal agreement, and then backdate it. Meanwhile, you’re working out of your apartment, and hiring friends to contract part-time. I don’t think the average person would think, “In 33 years this new company will have revenues topping $60 billion, and I should probably make a note that the company started today.”

We did find an outdated Microsoft Fast Facts document that gave the April 4^th date, so it’s very possible that the wrong information originated with us. To me this just illustrates the fact that history is only an interpretation of what we perceive from the documentary evidence, and that archives are hugely important in making sure that evidence is available to be re-examined with fresh perspective when the need arises.

For more information on the early years, you’ll find some great new material on the Bill Gates Transition site on Microsoft PressPass, including the reunion shot of the original employees from the classic “Albuquerque Group” photo.

Today in History – July 20, 1969 – Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy’s challenge to put a “man” on the moon before the end of the decade. With a tight development and execution schedule, any number of things could have gone wrong. Instead, the major flaw, from the public’s knowledge,  was when there was some question about Armstrong’s historic words. At 10:56 p.m. EDT, with more than half a billion people watching on television, Armstrong takes the first step on the moon. Armstrong maintains that he said:  “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The press heard and quoted: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Listen and decide for yourself.  Aldrin joined him soon after and collected rocks that are still of value today. He described the lunar surface as “magnificent desolation“.

The moon walk and the Apollo mission accomplishments validated to the nation the importance of U.S. leadership in space exploration and the formation of NASA as a separate agency to head these efforts. Before the launch of Sputnik, the United States felt confident in its position on space technology. The modern liquid fueled rocket had been invented in America by Robert Goddard. In addition Wernher von Braun, the developer of the successful German V2 rocket was working for the US Army’s rocket program. The view in Washington was that the government should only develop purely military rockets and leave the rest to the private sector. Wernher von Braun was even discouraged from developing rockets that could carry satellites. That all changed when the Soviet Union launch Sputnik on October 4, 1957. The United States had clearly lost its edge in space technology and it was decided that a new federal agency should be established for non-military space programs.

On July 29, 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eilene Galloway was instrumental in drafting the legislation and and making the case for its emphasis on international collaboration and peaceful exploration.

Many parts of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency were incorporated into NASA at its start, including the participation of Wernher von Braun. NASA quickly ramped up its human space flight program resulting in the launch of the first American in space on May 5, 1961, and the first American in orbit on February 20, 1962. One of NASA’s largest accomplishments was just seven years later with the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. During this short amount of time NASA helped America regain its confidence as a leader in space flight.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources on NASA. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – July 17, 1955 – Disneyland® opens and Walt Disney’s dream becomes a reality.  He envisioned “a magical destination where families could come together to create memories that last a lifetime, opened its doors to the world.” Click on the images above to get to Disney’s archive of original classic attractions, entertainment, dining and shopping that inspired new concepts in entertainment and experience design.

A decade later on November 16, 1965  Walt Disney launched the EPCOT Center: Prototype Community of Tomorrow. As Walt Disney originally envisioned it, the EPCOT Center (which stood for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”) would be the key component of Walt Disney World – a working “city of the future” with residential, shopping and industrial districts that would showcase the latest technologies available. Walt’s vision included forward thinking ideas such as clean (read: electric) transportation systems, and a city dominated by the pedestrian (all automobile traffic was to be underground). In his own words, “It’s like the city of tomorrow ought to be. A city that caters to the people as a service function. It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities… [It] will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.”

Walt Disney died approximately a year after the launch of the EPCOT project, and without his vision and drive the EPCOT Center took a very different direction. Instead of a working city, Epcot (no longer an acronym) is now a theme park with two different themes in one: a showcase of the future (a legacy of EPCOT’s original design) and the World Showcase (where you can tour the world by foot in under two hours). The theme park officially opened on October 1st, 1982 and 2007 marks it’s 25th year of operation.

See the Engineering Pathway’s resources on theme parks and roller coaster design.

Have you developed courseware – interactive websites,simulations, tutorials, case studies, software environments or tools – designed to enhance engineering education? We want to see it! Submissions due July 16, 2010.

The Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware, hosted by the Engineering Pathway, is open to a wide range of submissions of high-quality, engaging, non-commercial learning innovations designed to enhance engineering education. Submissions for 2010 are due by July 16, 2010, and the Premier Courseware of 2010 will be announced at the Frontiers In Education Conference to be held October 27-30 in Marriott Crystal Gateway, Arlington, Virginia. More details on the Premier Award and current and previous winners can be found on the Engineering Pathway at: http://www.engineeringpathway.org/premier/.

The 2009 Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware was awarded  to two groups for the courseware SIMSE submitted by Emily Navarro and colleagues, and CATME/Team-Maker submitted by Matthew Ohland and colleagues.

The 2009 award was presented at the Premier Award Ceremony at the Frontiers in Education Conference, held last year in in San Antonio, Texas. The award-winning courseware was distributed on CD ROM at the FIE Conference and is also available online.This year’s panel of judges comprised a diverse cross-section of experts in engineering education and interactive media. Sponsors of the award program are John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Microsoft Research, Autodesk  and TechSmith.

SimSE is a game-based educational software engineering simulation environment that allows students to practice “virtual” software engineering processes in a graphical, interactive and fun setting. The direct, graphical feedback enables students to learn the complex cause and effect relationships underlying software engineering processes. During the game, the student takes on the role of the project manager and directs engineers to perform typical process tasks. SimSE helps bridge the gap between the conceptual knowledge about software engineering that is presented in lecture but that often times is not fully explored or practiced in assignments or projects. SimSE includes a customizable modeling environment that allows instructors to create new scenarios, application domains, organizations and cultures. SimSE has been used worldwide and has been found to be an educationally effective tool that increases students’ understanding of software engineering process concepts. Professor Emily Navarro was joined by professor André van der Hoek, both from the University of California at Irvine, in developing this award winning courseware.

The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME)/Team-Maker is an integrated and well-tested system that helps manage teams in engineering courses. Team-Maker is a tool for forming teams using instructors’ criteria, which helps instructors save time and effort in creating balanced teams. The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME) collects and analyzes self and peer evaluations of team members’ contributions, which provides faculty the feedback they need to manage teams in the classroom. CATME also provides students with tools that help them perform well on a team by providing incentives to contribute to the team, feedback about their performance, and suggests steps to improve their performance. CATME/Team-Maker are built upon a sound theory of teamwork that has been well tested both in terms of validity and reliability, and have been demonstrated to help students learn and perform better. Matthew W. Ohland, Purdue University was joined by a team of developers in accepting the award including: Lisa G. Bullard and Richard M. Felder, North Carolina State University; Cynthia J. Finelli, University of Michigan; Richard A. Layton, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Misty L. Loughry, Georgia Southern University; Hal R. Pomeranz, Deer Run Associates and Douglas G. Schmucker, Zahl-Ford, Inc.

The Premier Award competition, hosted by the NEEDS/Engineering Pathway digital libraries, is open to a wide range of submissions of “high-quality, non-commercial courseware designed to enhance engineering education.”  The Premier Award program has been underway for 13 years and has honored 24 winners over this time. More details on the Premier Award and current and previous winners can be found on the Engineering Pathway at: http://www.engineeringpathway.org/ep/premier/

The Engineering Pathway is a portal to high-quality teaching and learning resources in applied science and math, engineering, computer science/information technology and engineering technology, for use by K-12 and university educators and students. Engineering Pathway is the engineering education “wing” of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).

Today in history – July 12, 1872 -  Elijah McCoy created an invention that has made him arguably the most notable African American inventor ever. His birth date is still unknown although the date is speculated by many sources ranging from March 27, 1843 to May 2, 1844. His story would not have been possible if not for his parents. They were former slaves who fled from Kentucky to Canada by way of the Underground Railroad. Elijah one of 12 children would then be born in Colchester, Canada (interesting fact most the slaves that escaped via the Underground Railroad escaped to Canada). His father, George McCoy, enrolled in the British forces to help stop the Canadian leader Louis Riel’s launched rebellion in 1837. In appreciation of his military services, George McCoy was given 160 acres of land by the British. As a result of his father’s ties to Britain, at the age of 16 Elijah McCoy he was offered and accepted an apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the time he was awarded the apprenticeship, slavery in America had not yet been abolished. Thus, this opportunity wouldn’t have been possible if his family hadn’t escaped slavery in America. One can’t help but wonder how many other McCoy’s were unable to mature intellectually because of slavery?

In the story of Elijah McCoy it is important to remember the opportunities given to him were basically unheard of as far as African American’s had been concerned; he took full advantage of them. He earned credentials in Scotland being recognized as a master mechanic and engineer. Despite the accolades he received in Scotland, when he returned to the U.S post Civil War (slavery abolished) he was not able to receive a job in his field. Instead he became a locomotive fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad”. Although this was not in his field, this was seen as a responsible job and one of the highest an African American could receive at the time. The position required that he be responsible for “fueling the steam engine and [as] the oiler [he] lubricated the engine’s moving parts as well as the train’s axles and bearings.” . What his employers did not plan on was the fact that his credentials would help him see and solve problems that neither his co-workers nor superiors could. At that time trains needed to be periodically stopped in order to be lubricated. McCoy developed a lubricator for steam engines that allowed the train to be lubricated without stopping. This lubricator was duplicated by many but never matched the proficiency of McCoy’s invention. This is why he is referred to as the originator for his invention deemed the “The Real McCoy” a phrase that is still used today. He patented the invention on July 12, 1872 the “Locomotive Lubricator”. When we think about the importance of his invention we have to remember that there was no successful plane flight until 20 years later. So, the train was the only means for extensive travel within the Unites States and his lubricating system increased the distance trains could run without requiring stops.

McCoy didn’t stop at the “Locomotive Lubricator”; he obtained 58 patents in his life time, the most of any African American at that time. His hard work made substantial advancements in mechanical engineering and that is why he is being acknowledged today in history.

Interested readers are encouraged to visit the Engineering Pathway’s resources on African American scientists, engineers & inventors and our engineering diversity or our computing diversity websites.

Readers interested in inventions by African Americans may want to view the following blogs: Ice cream scoop invented (February 2), Birth of first self-made millionairess (December 23), John Hopkins hospital performs first open heart surgery (November 29), and Howard University founded in 1866 (November 20).