Today in History – May 17, 1954 – Official groundbreaking of the CERN laboratory occurred in Geneva. A small number of scientists first envisioned CERN vision as an opportunity to bring nations together through science and build a world-class laboratory for nuclear and particle physics in Europe. CERN’s founding convention emphasized that that it should foster international collaboration, promote contacts between and interchange of scientists and make its results freely available through advanced training and publications. “When the 12 founding Member States ratified the CERN convention on 29 September 1954,” explains CERN’s Director General Robert Aymar, “they gave the new organization a mission to provide first class facilities, to coordinate fundamental research in particle physics, and to help reunite the countries of Europe after two world wars.“

Today, CERN has achieved its mission and more, hosting around half the world’s particle physicists, with membership that includes 60 countries and 8,000 scientists; it boasts a large number of Nobel Laureates as well. CERN supports the world’s largest set of complex scientific instruments so study the basic particles of matter and related energy releases when they collide. “It is no accident,” says Aymar, “that many of the countries about to join the European Union are already members of CERN. Scientific collaboration has proved to be a valuable step on the way to collaboration at the political level.“

The 50th anniversary of CERN officially began on 8 March 2004 with the launch of a Swiss postage stamp dedicated to CERN (see upper left figure).

More recently, CERN launched the Large Hadron Collider as the center for world-wide research on particle physics for the next decade.

CERN has also stimulated a number of other developments beyond fundamental particle physics. It was here that the World Wide Web was launched when CERN’s Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal titled: Information Management : a Proposal” in 1990. His idea, later refined by collaborator Robert Cailiau, was to “merge the technologies of personal computer, computer networking and hpertext into a powerful and easy to use global information system“. The first web server in the U.S. came on-line in December 1991 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park, California. The first browsers in the X-window system. The version called Mosaic published in 1993 by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois became the version that was most widely used with its easy to use user interface and ability to run on a wide range of computer platforms. The world’ first WWW conference was held at CERN in May 1994, attended by 400 users and developers. By the end of 1994, the Web had 10,000 servers and exponentially increasing traffic. The rest is history. In March 2009, CERN celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Web.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on the CERN and particle physics, including their educational site. For related educational resources, visit the Engineering Science Education Community site. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History -May 16, 1960 – Theodore Maiman develops the first ruby laser, one of the first functional optical lasers while at the Hughes Aircraft Company. Maiman (left photo) was influenced by articles by  Charles H. Townes at al.: J.P. Gordon, H. J. Zeiger and C.H. Townes, Physics Review, 95 (1954) 282 and  J. P. Gordon, H. J. Zeiger and C. H. Townes, Physics Review, 99 (1955) 1264.

There appears to have been quite a competition between Maiman and Townes (photo second from left) in developing the first functional laser. Townes  patented the maser (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) on March 24, 1959, using ammonia gas and microwave radiation – a laser that doesn’t use optical light. Although Maiman was nominated for a Nobel prize, the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Charles Townes (50%) and Basov and Prokhorov (each 25%). Maiman was awarded 1983/84 Wolf Prize in Physics and the Japan Prize in 1987. He also holds patents on masers, laser displays, optical scanning, and laser modulation. Until his recent death on May 5, 2007, Maiman served as director of the Control Laser Corporation and a member of the advisory board of Industrial Research Magazine.

Gordon Gould was the first person to use the word “laser” (Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation). And he may have created the first light laser. As a doctoral student at Columbia University under Charles Townes, he built an optical laser starting in 1958 but failed to file for a patent for his invention until after other laser researchers had filed their own patents. In 1997 after many legal battles, Gould was awarded the first patent for the laser. He was inducted into the Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 1991.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on applied physics or view our Electrical Engineering Education community site. Also see Laserium inventor Lisa Garmire’s blog on the Maser patent of March 24, 1959.

Today in History – May 13, 1958 – Velcro® trademark is registered for a fabric hook and loop fastener.

The way George de Mestral, a Swiss mountaineer, tells the story, he was hiking with his dog in 1948 and was frustrated to see all of these burrs covering them both when he returned home. He says he was fascinated by how tough they were to take off and looked at them in a microscope. He saw that they had small hooks that enabled the seed-bearing burr to cling effectively to the small fabric loops on his pants. This was an “aha” moment and he was inspired to design a fastener using the same concept. He called  his invention ‘velcro’, combining the French words velour (velvet) and crochet (hook). He predicted: “It will rival the zipper in its ability to fasten.”

The idea was not an immediate success and met with derision by some. He persevered and worked with a  weaver from a textile plant in France to develop a nylon type fabric that had the hook and loop fastener concept, patented it in 1955 and trademarked it in 1958. A U.S. patent was filed on May 9, 1958 and awarded on Nov. 21, 1961. The original Velcro® company was formed in 1952 to manufacture this invention and now Velcro® is a multi-million dollar industry.

One interesting note on trademarks: if it becomes a commonly used generic word, then the trademark can be invalidated. Thus Velcro International emphasizes: “Velcro is the name of our companies and is a registered trademark for our products,” the highly protective company says. “It is not the generic name of the product that… is generically known as ‘hook-and-loop fastener’ or ‘touch fasteners’.”

Velcro® is a wonderful example of biologically-inspired design, or biomimicry.

Also on this day, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (to later merge with another society to become the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE) is founded.

For more information see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on biomimetic design and trademarks and patents. For related curricular resources, visit the Materials Engineering Education, Materials Engineering Education and the Chemical Engineering Education community sites.

Today in History – May 11, 1997 – Garry Kasparov, reigning World Chess Champion, loses tournament to IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer. The event was the twentieth century version of John Henry’s “man against machine”. The triumph of human intelligence was not to happen, however, as in the shocking finale on May 11th World Champion Garry Kasparov resigned 19 moves into Game 6 and lost in little more than an hour. This was the first time a current world champion had lost a tournament match to a computer. Match commentator Yasser Seirawan was stunned: “What we just witnessed was a landmark achievement in chess . . . I absolutely didn’t expect this to happen.”

The event was viewed by millions of chess and computing fans who were able witness the competition live on this Web site, which now serves as the official archive.

Unlike earlier chess playing programs that relied on artificial intelligence (AI) as the primary technology, Deep Blue’s strength coupled AI with advanced storage and compute power. The massively parallel RS/6000 SP-based IBM computer system was designed to play chess at the grandmaster level in a way that could consistently store and analyze many more moves ahead than human players.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the Kasparov and Deep Blue, artificial intelligence and history of computing. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education, computer science education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Formerly called “Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement CCLI”, the NSF program “Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES)” emphasizes projects that have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education.

For more information, see a list of the Engineering Pathway’s collection of engineering-related TUES resources.

Today in History – May 5, 1809 – Mary Kies is the first woman to receive a U.S. patent. Prior 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.

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.

Did you know that Barbie was invented by Ruth Handler, motivated by her daughter Barbie and her friends play behavior? My blog of February 13 goes over the history of Barbie and Mattel’s decision and design process in announcing the new Computer Engineer Barbie.

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 indepth 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.

Today in History – May 3, 1997 – Garry Kasparov, reigning World Chess Champion, wins first of six chess games against IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer. The event was the twentieth century version of John Henry’s “man against machine”. The event was viewed by millions of chess and computing fans who were able witness the competition live on this Web site, which now serves as the official archive.

The triumph of “man against machine” was not to happen, however, as in the shocking finale on May 11th World Champion Garry Kasparov resigned 19 moves into Game 6 and lost in little more than an hour. This was the first time a current world champion had lost a tournament match to a computer. Match commentator Yasser Seirawan was stunned: “What we just witnessed was a landmark achievement in chess . . . I absolutely didn’t expect this to happen.”

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the Kasparov and Deep Blue, artificial intelligence and history of computing. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education, computer science education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – April 30, 2008 – Toyota Prius worldwide sales top 1 million mark. Although the Toyota Prius started as a niche green car when Toyota unveiled the first generation in 1997 it has become the highest selling hybrid on the market. Toyota announced that its cumulative sales passed the 1 million mark, with approximately 1,028,000 units sold as of the end of April, 2008.

The name “Prius” comes from the Latin “to go before” and, based on their pioneering leadership in hybrid vehicles, they certainly can claim this title.

The Prius was first launched in Japan in December, 1997 and began selling in Europe, North America and other markets in 2000. In 2005, Toyota began first overseas production of the Prius in Changchun, China, and sales of Prius vehicles in South Korea are expected to begin in the latter half of 2009. In 2003, the second-generation Prius, equipped with the Toyota Hybrid System II, was introduced with improved environmental performance and power. In August 2007, Prius G, S and S “Standard Package” Japan models achieved a fuel efficiency of 29.6km/l in the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s newly introduced JC08 test cycle. (The Prius S and S “Standard Package” models achieved 35.5km/l in the older 10-15 test cycle.) The Prius is also one of the first vehicles to meet the new 2015 Japanese fuel efficiency standards set out under the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy (http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/08/0515.html).

According to Toyota, Prius vehicles worldwide have contributed to a reduction in CO2 emissions (considered a cause of global warming) by producing approximately 4.5 million tons less CO2 when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class and of similar size and driving performance.

However, Toyota’s U.S. sales have been battered by the ongoing economic slowdown, tumbling 39.8 percent from February 2009. Gasoline prices, which surged during the first half of last year, have come down drastically, and it is unclear whether gasoline-electric hybrids will continue to sell as briskly as they have in recent years (http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2009/03/12/453117.html)

Toyota is introducing the third-generation Prius later this year, but that is expected to meet intense competition from the Insight hybrid from Japanese rival Honda Motor Co. Honda recently introduced a new Honda as the cheapest hybrid ($19,800) in the U.S. market.

However, Prius is still the world’s top-selling hybrid. Toyota is dedicated to eventually offering a 100% hybrid line-up, boasting that hybrids will be the standard drivetrain by 2020.

“One million hybrids in less than nine years indicate how quickly American consumers have accepted this important technology,” Jim Lentz, Toyota’s top U.S. executive, said in a statement (http://www.clublexus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=555&Itemid=155).

See the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the Prius and hybrid automobiles and automotive engineering and design or visit the Mechanical Engineering Education Community site.

Today in History – April 29, 1998 – Ten percent of the Amazon rain forest is preserved. On this day, Brazil agreed to set aside about 25 million ha (62 million ac) of the Amazon rain forest for conservation in cooperation with the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund. This initiative will  protect 10% of its forests by the year 2000. The estimated cost of setting aside this land the size of Great Britain is between $84 million and $156 million.

The plant-rich Amazon ecosystem is sometimes called “the lungs of the Earth” with  one-fifth of the world’s plants, one sixth of all the world’s birds, one in 11 of the world’s mammals and one in 15 of the world’s reptiles.

Alas, massive deforestation and development have polluted the environment and now Brazil is one of the world’s top four emitters of greenhouse gases. Between May 2002 and May 2003, it is reported that Brazil lost more than 24,000 square kilometers of forest – an area larger than the size of Israel.

This  1998 initiative has been followed by more recent efforts, but the work seems to be trying to hold back the tide. A recent news article claims: “Since reaching a recent peak of 10,588 square miles of forest destroyed in the Amazon in 2004, deforestation dropped for the next three years, before rising slightly this year to 4,621 square miles, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, which monitors deforestation. “

The good news is that Brazil has decided recently  to set a target for reducing deforestation by 70 percent over the next decade. The success of these plans for set asides require finding economic alternatives for the people living in the rain forests and close monitoring for illegal clear cutting.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on rain forest preservation and global warming or view our Environmental Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – April 26, 1986 – The Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded in the Ukraine and parts of Belarus, Russia; it was the world’s worst civil nuclear catastrophe.

The steam explosion and fire sent a cloud of radioactive dust over much of Europe, releasing at least five percent of the radioactive core of the reactor. The accident was a result of flaws in the reactor design and inadequately trained personnel. The safety systems had actually been turned off during a testing operation and an uncontrollable power surge was allowed to occur. As the Soviet design had no external containment, there was no final barrier to contain radioactive material once the steam explosions started. These design and training flaws are attributed to lax nuclear safety standards in the former Soviet Union. Over thirty  people, mostly emergency workers and children, were killed soon after the explosion.

On May 2-4 approximately 160,000 people were evacuated from the area around the plant operator’s town of Pripyat. Eventually an additional 210,000 people resettled into less contaminated areas. The long term environmental and health effects are still being measured.  The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation has  issued several reports and has conducted extensive longitudinal studies on the Chernobyl accident.  Although there is some dispute as to exactly how may long-term radiation-related deaths occurred (estimates of related deaths from cancer range from 4,000 to over 200,000) no one questions that there were catastrophic social and economic consequences, with costs in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Only recently has the government of Ukraine indicated that it will  lift restrictions on tourism around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. They have also announced that a 20,000-ton steel confinement  structure for the whole plant will be completed in 2013. Given Japan’s nuclear emergency after the March 11, 2011 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunamis, the world scrutiny of the new Chernobyl containment should be high.

Although Chernobyl is still considered the world’s worst civil nuclear catastrophe, the crisis at  Fukushima Daiichi is far from being over. Although the Japanese boiling water reactor using GE technology had an outside containment, unlike Chernobyl, the daily amount of caesium-137 released from Fukushima Daiichi is around the amount released from Chernobyl. Recent forensic modeling analyses estimate that 70 percent of the core of one reactor is damaged and that another has undergone a 33 percent meltdown. This level of damage raises many questions about what should be added to the nuclear regulatory code to improve reactor safety. The quantity of radioactive waste that must be removed raises the issue that we don’t have good solutions for long term radioactive waste disposal.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on Chernobyl and nuclear energy and safety or view our Nuclear Engineering Education and Engineeering Ethics community sites. Readers may be interested in the Alsos digital library on nuclear issues and their resources on Chernobyl as well.