Profiles of Historical Engineers
Nolan K. Bushnell (1943-
http://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n12/profiles.html
)
Father of the Video Game Industry
 Founded Atari in 1972
 Launched video game
revolution with Pong
 Sold Atari in 1976
 $28 million
http://homepages.compuserve.de/rspezial/vidgas/atarilog.htm
 Found Chuck E.
Cheese’s restaurant
 Sold after few years
http://www.globalicons.com/clients/chucke/
main-intro-l.html
 Started over 20
companies since Atari
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
www.utah.edu
Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
http://www.cojeco.cz/index.php?detail=1&s_lang=2&id_desc=23024
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
http://www.shakerwssg.org/b__w_antique_clip_art.htm
An Inventor’s Adventure
Edison in front of his
Universal Stock Printer
 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
http://dspt.club.fr/EDISONbio.htm
Professional Inventor/Engineer
 Created the cylinder
phonograph and sold to
Edison Speaking
Phonograph Company
 Received $10,000 +
20% of company profits
 Income helped him focus
on incandescent light
bulb, most famous
accomplishment
http://www.exploravision.org/calendar/february/feb11a.htm
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 (1452-1519)
http://digilander.libero.it/mickymaus/index.htm
Weaponry envisionist
Da Vinci Drawing on the His
Mechanism for Flying
http://home.att.net/~o.caimi/Leonardo.html
 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
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
(1806-1859)
http://www.cwhistory.com/history/TeacherPack/brunel.html
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
(1865-1923)
http://www.oya-es.net/reportajes/proteus.htm
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 (1863-1947)
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_ford_1_e.html
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 1903
http://www.bluemoongear.com/ArcCarsFord.htm
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 (1882-1945)
http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/Voyages/explaining-the-heavens.htm
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
http://www.eworcester.com/extra/goddard/photos.html
Unrecognized Contributions
 Contributed to
theories and
realization of rockets
Dr. Goddard at Clark University in
Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1924
 Labors went
unrecognized until
dawn of “Space Age”
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/goddard/gallery/gpn-2002-000130.html
Wilbur (1867-1912) and
Orville (1871-1948) Wright
www.uncp.edu/gpac/youth/
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
http://www.first-to-fly.com/Adventure/Workshop/lift_and_drift.htm
Accomplishments
aviationhistory.info/ Wright-photos.html
 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
Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992)
http://www.dma.eui.upm.es/historia_informatica/Doc/Personajes/GraceHooper.htm
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
 1969 - Data Processing Management
Association’s first Computer Science Manof-the-Year Award
 1973 - First woman and U.S. citizen to be
made a Distinguished Fellow of the British
Computer Society
 Multiple honorary doctorates from
universities across nation
 1991 - National Medal of Technology
Joseph B. Strauss (1827-1870)
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist9/mcgloin.html
The Golden Gate Bridge
http://www.sfmuseum.net/assoc/bridge07.html
 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
http://www.mikelevin.com/BayArea.htm
Leo Szilard (1898-1964)
http://www.exn.ca/Stories/1997/03/20/02.asp
Nuclear Engineer
 Studied engineering in Budapest and Berlin
 Left Germany for London to escape Nazi
persecution
 1933 - patented nuclear chain reaction
 1937 - moved to New York City
The Manhattan Project
http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu
 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