Today in History – December 27, 1571 – Birth of Johannes Kepler.  When Kepler made his calculations from measurements taken by Tycho Brahe and himself, at the turn of the seventeenth century, they had to create many of the instruments that they used.  The types of tedious observations and measurements taken by Brahe and Kepler had never been attempted before.  Thus when Kepler first published his results in 1609, writing what would later become the first two laws of planetary motion, he was in the best position to determine whether the Ptolemaic Earth-centered system was correct or the Copernican heliocentric system.

In 2009 NASA plans to launch the Kepler Mission, a space telescope designed to search for other planets outside our own solar system.  To date, astronomers have only been able to find gas-giant planets, such as our own Jupiter, with the current technology.  The Kepler mission will place a telescope in space that will focus on a specific area long enough to be able to find the presence of smaller Earth-like planets.  Once one has been located, the telescope will be able to study it well enough to determine whether or not it would be able to sustain life.

400 years after Kepler published the results of his studies of the planets from relatively crude observations, NASA will have sent a telescope into space to find and study planets outside our own solar system.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources planetary motion and Kepler’s Laws or general astronomy. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education or the Engineering Mechanics Education community sites.

Today in History – December 25, 1642 – Isacc Newton‘s birth. Also on this date in 1741 astronomer Anders Celsius introduces the temperature scale that bears his name.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on Newton and engineering mechanics or the Celsius scale and temperature measurement. For curricular resources, visit the Engineering Mechanics Education, the Mechanical Engineering Education or the Chemical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – December 8, 1993 – First functional GPS (Global Positioning System) was developed. The technology initially developed for military use eventually made its way into our daily lives- most notably in cars and cell phones. Using information from a number of satellites orbiting the Earth (originally with 24, now a total of 30), a GPS receiver can pinpoint your location in real time with the help of atomic clocks, which makes this accurate to one billionth of a second. The GPS manufacturing and development industry has launched into a multi-billion dollar industry with its vast number of practical applications- from locating lost ships at sea to studying earthquakes by monitoring plate tectonics like the people at SCIGN (Southern California Integrated GPS Network). Soon enough, they will be available in credit card sizes, making it even more convenient to carry one around.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on GPS and geomatics. For related curricula, visit the Information Technology Education, Computer Engineering Education, Electrical Engineering Education , Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Education disciplinary communities.

Also on this date in 2004- After popularizing the PC in the ’80s, IBM sells its PC business to a Chinese company. The computer industry giant decided to let go of its retail computer division in order to concentrate on software development and providing services at a larger scale.

Today in History – November 25, 1867 – Alfred Nobel receives the patent for dynamite.

While in Paris, Nobel came to work with Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerine. Though it was ten times stronger that black powder, it was highly unstable. Nobel was intrigued with nitroglycerine’s potential as a construction tool. But he knew he had to make it safer to use. In 1860 he began his experiments on nitroglycerine and went on to create an detonator (blasting cap) for it. Though one of his brothers died in an 1864 nitroglycerine accident, Nobel continued his work to improve the substance. In 1866 he finds that the addition of kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) stabilizes the substances and makes it moldable. Because the substance could be shaped into cylinders it made it a perfect fit for the holes created by the newly invented diamond tipped drill. With dynamite construction on bridges, tunnels, and other projects occurred faster, cheaper, and safer. And in 1867 Nobel obtained the patent for the substance now known as dynamite.

Nobel’s makes much of his fortune through dynamite. And it later years he pursues further work in weapons technology. However late in his life, and especially through his interactions with Bertha von Suttner, he became increasingly interested in working for world peace. In 1888 a premature obituary was printed condemning him for inventing dynamite, which was now also used as a weapon in wars. In order to create a more positive legacy, Nobel left much of his estate to create the Nobel Prizes.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on, Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize, and other scientific and engineering awards. Or browse related curricular resources and events in the Civil Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, Mineral and Mining Engineering Eduacation or the Chemical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – January 31, 1958 – Explorer 1 became the United States of America’s first satellite to orbit the Earth after it was launched on January 31, 1958. After the Soviet Union’s successful launch of Sputnik I on October 4, 1957, the United States of America embarked upon a program to launch it own artificial satellite. The first American attempt to launch a satellite using a Vanguard 1 rocket occurred in December 1957 and failed miserably.

Following this failure, the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency, located at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL, was directed to launch a scientific satellite using a Jupiter C rocket developed under Dr. Wernher von Braun. The artificial satellite was designed, built and operated by the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory under the direction of Dr. William Pickering.

The satellite instrumentation of Explorer 1 was a cosmic ray counter designed by Dr. James Van Allen, a physicist at the University of Iowa. The cosmic ray counter experiment was designed to measure the radiation that surrounds the Earth. Once in orbit, the cosmic ray counter began to overload and measured a much lower cosmic ray count than previously assumed. Given this new information, Dr. Van Allen theorized that the cosmic ray equipment may have been exposed to very strong radiation caused by a belt of charged particles trapped in space by Earth’s magnetic field.

The data returned by Explorer 1 and another satellite launched in March 1958 prove the existence of intense belts of radiation that surround the Earth. These belts of radiation are now called Van Allen Belts and are considered to be the first major scientific discovery of the space age.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the Explorer I and satellites. For more educational resources, see our aeronautical engineering education and electrical engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – January 11, 1954 – Although radio weather broadcasts have been around since 1922, it was not until 1953 that BBC executives, gathered for a luncheon, introduced the idea of presenting a weather forecast on television. These BBC executives searched the Met Office and chose the 32-year-old George Cowling, a former Royal Air Force meteorologist, to take on this new idea. Cowling delivered the first televised weather forecast on January 11th, 1954 at 7:55 PM from BBC’s Lime Grove Studios. The broadcast lasted for only five minutes and cost 50 pounds to deliver, but it started a weather forecasting revolution. Today, the BBC’s Weather Center produces 100 forecasts each weekday, now with the help of modern computer, lighting, sound, and camera technology. This equipment was not available to Cowling, who relied on an easel to deliver his first broadcast.

Two months later RCA produced the first color television sets. See Lisa Huettel’s March 25 blog on this event.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the color television. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – November 25, 1867 – Alfred Nobel receives the patent for dynamite.

While in Paris, Nobel came to work with Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerine. Though it was ten times stronger that black powder, it was highly unstable. Nobel was intrigued with nitroglycerine’s potential as a construction tool. But he knew he had to make it safer to use. In 1860 he began his experiments on nitroglycerine and went on to create an detonator (blasting cap) for it. Though one of his brothers died in an 1864 nitroglycerine accident, Nobel continued his work to improve the substance. In 1866 he finds that the addition of kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) stabilizes the substances and makes it moldable. Because the substance could be shaped into cylinders it made it a perfect fit for the holes created by the newly invented diamond tipped drill. With dynamite construction on bridges, tunnels, and other projects occurred faster, cheaper, and safer. And in 1867 Nobel obtained the patent for the substance now known as dynamite.

Nobel’s makes much of his fortune through dynamite. And it later years he pursues further work in weapons technology. However late in his life, and especially through his interactions with Bertha von Suttner, he became increasingly interested in working for world peace. In 1888 a premature obituary was printed condemning him for inventing dynamite, which was now also used as a weapon in wars. In order to create a more positive legacy, Nobel left much of his estate to create the Nobel Prizes.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on, Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize, and other scientific and engineering awards. Or browse related curricular resources and events in the Civil Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, Mineral and Mining Engineering Eduacation or the Chemical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – October 23-24 – TRON Legacy Exhibit at the National Science & Engineering Festival.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has teamed up with Walt Disney Studios to co-create an interactive exhibit in Tent 102 at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, which will take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23 and 24 from 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day.  The hands-on experience blends themes from the upcoming major motion picture TRON: Legacy with the NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.

Exhibit-goers will be transported into the digital world of TRON: Legacy and examine where movie fantasy and reality intersect.  Visitors can try 3-D scanning and see how it’s bringing the real and virtual worlds closer together.  They’ll get a chance to do brain surgery on a computer-generated replica of a real brain, and experience a trip into the TRON: Legacy digital grid through an incredible 3-D light painting activity created especially for this exhibit. The NAE worked with Disney Imagineering research scientist Lanny Smoot (upper right photo) to develop the interactive demo.

TRON: Legacy is the stand-alone sequel to the 1982 motion picture TRON.  Both star Jeff Bridges as software engineer and video game developer Kevin Flynn, who was digitized by a laser and transported into a world of computer games in the original film.  In TRON: Legacy, Flynn’s son Sam finds himself in the digital realm where his father has lived for the past two decades.  The film, in theaters nationwide on Dec. 17, 2010, involved cutting-edge movie technologies, including one that allows Bridges to act as his younger self.

“Engineering is woven into the very fabric of TRON: Legacy. The story is rich with themes about technology and its evolving relationship with humanity in an increasingly digital world,” said co-producer Justin Springer.  “The line between science and art is blurring more than ever.  And some of the most talented artists in modern film making are engineers, mathematicians, architects, and computer programmers.”

An international committee of some of today’s most accomplished engineers and scientists determined the NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.  They identified 14 potentially “game changing” goals for helping people and the planet thrive in the 21^st century that include enhancing virtual reality; engineering better medicines; advancing personalized learning; engineering the tools of scientific discovery; and reverse engineering the brain.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival and the NAE Grand Challenges. For related educational resources, visit the engineering education and the computer graphics & visualization disciplinary communities.

Also on this date on October 23, 1819, the first boat passed through the Erie Canal. On October 24, 1861 the transcontinental telegraph line was completed.

Today in History -  May 20, 1899 – the American Physical Society (APS) is founded for the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics. It was originally formed at Columbia University by 36 scientists from 17 institutions who elected Henry Rowland as their first president and A.A. Michelson as the first vice-president. It has since grown to a membership of more than 46,000 and publishes some of the most prestigious physics journals in the world. As the APS has grown, it has become ever more involved in issues of public outreach and education. For more information on educational resources in physics, see the APS Education web pages, search the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on applied physics, or visit the comPADRE Digital Library for physics and astronomy education, a partnership of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the APS, the American Astronomical Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the Society for Physics Students.

Also on this date in 1790, Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo flight across the Atlantic. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the history of flight or view our Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – April 22, 1970 – First Earth Day. Senator Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day, says that the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. He wanted President Kennedy to give visibility to pollution and the environmental degradation that was appearing throughout the country, but was going unnoticed by the political establishment. The anti-Vietnam War demonstrations called “teach-ins” were popular on college campuses and he decided to organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment, tapping into both the energy of the student anti-war movement and the environmental cause. A Sunday, November 30, 1969, New York Times article by Gladwin Hill forecast that this was going to be a massive event:

“Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation’s campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam…a national day of observance of environmental problems…is being planned for next spring…when a nationwide environmental ‘teach-in’ …

Senator Gaylord Nelson explains that Earth Day worked “because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated.”

Today with global warming and another energy crises, sustainability is a top international concern and an estimated 1 billion people will do something to observe the anniversary of the first Earth Day. People will participate in marches and protests, family and community activities, clean-up days, tree-planting events, saving water, saving energy, nature walks, and sustainability events.  A coalition of U.S. government agencies provides more on the history of Earth Day, environmental progress and Earth Day activities.

I am pleased to see a dramatic change in government action to aggressively workon climate and environmental issues. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson challenges all Americans to “begin building the green economy“, Department of Energy’s Steven Chu tackling global warming, and .

Expressions like “Green is the new black”, “Green is the new red, white and blue” and “green commerce”, such as that highlighted in ABC’s “Green Gadgets for Earth Day” news, demonstrate that green design is big business today. Alas some of these efforts are really “green washing” and are more effective at ringing up sales than in helping the environment. We should encourage life cycle analysis thinking with our students to seriously look at the long term environmental impact of new products, energy options and strategies.

The Engineering Pathway has a number of resources on green design, manufacturing and sustainability as well as on environmental ethics. For more educational resources, see our agricultural engineering education, environmental engineering education and chemical engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines, including interdisciplinary communities such as the Green Design and Sustainable Engineering education community.