Minority Engineers and Inventors

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Minority Engineers and Inventors
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Juan De la Cierva (Sept. 21, 1895 Dec. 9, 1936)

• Spanish Civil Engineer
• Known for his invention of the Autogyro
• His invention was later utilized in the
  development of the helicopter

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Mario Molina (March 9, 1943 Present)

• Holds a doctoral degree in Chemistry
• Awarded the Nobel Price in 1995 for Chemistry
• Awarded for his earlier work his work on
  explaining the role of CFCs and the depletion of
  the ozone layer
• First and only Mexican to receive the Nobel Prize
  for Chemistry

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Ellen Ochoa (May 10, 1959 Present)

• May 10, 1958 - Present
• Doctorate in Electrical Engineering
• First U.S. Hispanic women in space
• Spent 40d 19h 37m in space
• Co-inventor on three patents
• Optical inspection system
• Optical object recognition method
• Method for removing noise from images

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Luis Walter Alvarez (June 13, 1911 Sept. 1,
1988)

• Doctorate of Physics
• Worked on the Manhattan Project
• Received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968
• Invented the synchrotron
• Invented a system to help planes land safely in
  low visibility conditions
• With his son, proposed the asteroid-impact theory
  which explains the extinction of the dinosaurs
• Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
  in 1978

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Severo Ochoa (Sept. 24, 1905 Nov. 1, 1993)

• Spanish-American Biologist
• New York University School of Medicine
• Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
• Professor of Pharmacology
• Professor of Biochemistry
• Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry
• Received the 1959 Nobel Prize in Psychology or
  Medicine for work on synthesis of RNA
• Recipient of the U.S. Medal of Science in 1959

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Mae Jemison MD (Oct. 17, 1956 Present)

• Chemical engineer, scientist, physician, teacher
  and astronaut
• B.S. in Chemical Engineering and doctorate in
  Medicine
• First African American female to go into space
• Spent 190 h 30 min 23 s in space
• Founded The Jemison Group, Inc. which develops
  technologies to benefit the developing world

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Sarah Goode (1850 - ?)

• First African American women to be granted a
  patent
• Invented the cabinet bed which is also the first
  hide-away bed
• A bed that folded up and could be used as a
  cabinet or a desk
• Started a furniture store in New York City

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Madame C. J. Walker (Dec. 23, 1867 May 25,
1919)

• Founded the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing
  Company
• The Company sells hair care and cosmetics
• It became the largest business owned by an
  African American in the United States
• She also became Americas first self-made women
  millionaire
• Prominent womens and African Americans rights
  activist

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Shirley Ann Jackson (Aug. 5, 1946 Present)

• Holds a doctorate in Physics
• First African-American woman to earn a doctorate
  degree from MIT
• Appointed Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
  Commission (first African American Women to be
  appointed this position)
• Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame
  in 1998
• Jackson became and is currently the 18th
  president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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Katherine G. Johnson (Aug. 26, 1918 Present)

• Holds degrees in French and Mathematics
• Began working for NASA and was transferred to the
  flight research program
• Helped plot the navigational paths for both
  manned and unmanned missions
• John Glenns first flight into space
• Neil Armstrongs landing and moon walk
• Earth Resources Satellite
• Recipient of the Group Achievement Award, NASA's
  Lunar Spacecraft and Operations
• Honorary Doctor of Laws from the State University
  of New York

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Archibald Alexander (1888 - 1958)

• Degree in Civil Engineering
• Formed a general contracting firm responsible
  for.
• The heating plant and power station for the
  University of Iowa
• A sewage treatment plant in Grand Rapids,
  Michigan
• An airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama
• Tidal Basin Bridge in Washington, D.C
• K Street Freeway
• Appointed first Republican Territorial Governor
  of the Virgin Islands by President Eisenhower

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David Crosthwait, Jr. (May 27, 1989 1976)

• Holds a Masters of Engineering
• Considered an authority on heat transfer,
  ventilation and air conditioning
• Received 39 patents relating to heating,
  ventilation, refrigeration, and air conditioning
  systems
• Responsible for designing the heating system for
  Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller center in New
  York City
• Granted an honorary doctoral degree from Purdue
  University

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Meredith C. Gourdine (Sept. 26, 1929 Nov. 20,
1998)

• Doctorate in Engineering Science
• Pioneered the research of electrogasdynamics
• Established Gourdine Laboratories, a
  multi-million dollar research laboratory
• Responsible for term Incineraid aiding in the
  removal of smoke from buildings
• successfully converted natural gas to electricity
  for everyday use
• Holds More than 70 patents for his various
  inventions

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Luis Howard Latimer (Sept. 4, 1848 1928)

• Served in the Civil War
• Three patented inventions
• Better light filament manufactures
• New support for arc lights
• Better way to attach the bulb filament to the
  wires
• Unpatented inventions include improved designs
  for almost all equipment and steps involved in
  the lampmaking process
• Better oven to bake the filaments
• Glassblowing equipment
• Better light socket and switch
• Founding member of the Edison Pioneers

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Frederick McDonald Massiah (December 12, 1886 -
July 7, 1975)

• Degree in Civil Engineering
• Established a construction business
• Among the first successful Black contracting
  engineers in the country
• Accomplishments
• Elliptical dome of the Ascension of Our Lord
  Church
• William Donner X-Ray Laboratory
• Sewage disposal plant in Trenton, New Jersey
• Ahead of his time in his use of reinforcing for
  concrete
• Awarded the Harmon Foundation Medal for
  Engineering

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Caldwell McCoy (June 27, 1933 Nov. 19, 1990)

• June 27, 1933 November 19, 1990
• Doctor of Science degree in Telecommunications
• Awarded the Laboratory's Thomas Edison Fellowship
  in 1968
• Director of the Information Systems Program at
  NASA
• As program manager for the National Magnetic
  Fusion Energy Computer Network
• Elected to become a member of the Senior
  Executive Service, the highest rank to be
  achieved by a civil service employee

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Elijah McCoy (May 2, 1843 October 10, 1929)

• Studied Engineering in Scotland
• Invented an automatic lubricator for oiling the
  steam engines of locomotives, boats, ect.
• Held 57 patents mostly related to lubrication,
  but also including a folding ironing board and a
  lawn sprinkler
• Formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company

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Garret A. Morgan (March 4, 1877 July 27, 1963)

• Invented a hair straightening liquid while trying
  to improve sewing machines
• Invented the breathing device which was later
  known as the gas mask
• Patented the automatic traffic light
• Started a newspaper called the Cleveland Call

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Percy A. Pierre (January 3, 1939 Present)

• Doctor of Science in Electrical Engineering
• Dean of the School of Engineering at Howard
  University (1971 to 1977)
• Assistant Secretary for Research, Development,
  and Regulation for the U.S. Department of the
  Army (1977-1981)
• President of Prairie View AM University
  (1983-89)
• Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies,
  MSU (1990-1995)
• Currently a full-time Professor of Electrical
  Engineering at MSU

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John B. Slaughter (1934 - Present)

• Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences
• Director of the Applied Physics Laboratory of the
  University of Washington (1975)
• Appointed Assistant Director for Astronomics,
  Atmospherics, Earth and Ocean Sciences at the NSF
  (1977)
• Chancellor of the University of Maryland
  (1982-1988)
• President of Occidental College in Los Angeles
  (1988-1999)
• President and CEO of The National Action Council
  for Minorities in Engineering, Inc

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Virgil Trice (February 3, 1926 Oct. 31, 1997)

• Master of Science in Industrial Engineering
• Chemical engineer at the Argonne National
  Laboratory (1947 - 1971)
• Nuclear waste management engineer for the Energy
  Research and Development Administration (1971 -
  1977)
• Senior program analyst for the U.S. Department of
  Energy (1977 1981)
• Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Energy
  (1981 - 1992)
• Until his death he focused his work on Nuclear
  Waste Management

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O. S. (Ozzie) Williams (Sept. 2, 1921 Oct. 31,
1997)

• M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering
• First African American hired by Republic Aviation
• Group project engineer for Greer Hydraulics, Inc.
  (1956-1962)
• Worked for Grumman International,
• Helped develop and produce the guidance systems
  for NASAs Apollo Space Program
• Became vice president in charge of trade and
  industrial relations with emerging African
  nations
• Traveled to West African in 1973 to establish
  Grummans African headquarters

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George Washington Carver (July 12, 1864 Jan.
5, 1943)

• Masters of Science in Agricultural Science
• Directed the department of agriculture at
  Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (1896)
• As a result of exhaustion of Southern Farms
• Developed 300 derivative products from peanuts
• Developed 118 from sweet potatoes
• This improved demand so farmers could get
  nitrogen back into the soil and sell the crop
  because of increased demand
• Donated his life savings to the establishment of
  the Carver Research Foundation
• Produced dyes of 500 different shades during WW2
  to replace textile dyes formerly purchased from
  Europe

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Santiago Ramón y Cajal (May 1, 1852 Oct. 17,
1934)

• Spanish histologist, physician and Nobel laureate
  
• Obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine
• Director of the Zaragoza Museum (1879)
• University Professor at Valencia (1881)
• Director of the National Institute of Hygiene
  (1899)
• Put forth many theories on neurons and electrical
  synapses
• Shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
  in 1906
• Founder of the Laboratorio de Investigaciones
  Biológicas (1922)
• Later named Instituto Cajal
• Published more than 100 articles in French and
  Spanish scientific periodicals

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Carlos Finlay (Dec. 3, 1833 Aug. 20, 1915)

• Degree in Medicine
• Opened a medical practice in Havana, Cuba
• Developed theories on weather conditions and
  yellow fever
• Was the first to theorize that the mosquito was a
  carrier of yellow fever
• This discovery helped in the construction of the
  Panama Canal
• Chief health officer of Cuba (1902 -1909)
• A monument called El Obelisco was built in Havana
  in the shape of a syringe to honor Dr. Finlay

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Baruj Benacerraf (Oct. 29, 1920 Present)

• Venezuelan-American Immunologist
• Doctor of Medecine
• Researcher at Columbia University College of
  Physicians and Surgeons (194850)
• Research in Paris (19501956)
• New York University (195668)
• National Institutes of Health (196870)
• Harvard University (197091)
• Shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or
  Medicine
• Discovery of the immune response genes that are
  responsible for transplant rejection
• Received the National Medal of Science (1990)

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Granville T. Woods (April 23, 1856 Jan. 30,
1910)

• 1887, he patented devices for wireless induction
  telegraphy
• 1889, he filed his first patent for an improved
  steam-boiler furnace
• Patented an apparatus which was a combination of
  a telephone and a telegrap called a
  telegraphony (1850)
• Developed the concept of a third raid for trains
  which is used today in the subway
• Developed a safe and inexpensive dimmer switch
  for theaters

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Dr. Patricia E. Bath (Nov. 4, 1942 Present)

• Medical Doctorate
• First African-American woman surgeon at the
  University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
  Medical Center.
• First woman faculty member of the UCLA Jules
  Stein Eye Institute
• First African-American woman to receive a patent
  for a medical invention
• She developed a laser device to remove cataracts
  - Laserphaco Probe (1988)
• First woman program director of a postgraduate
  training program in the United States
• Also the first woman chair of an ophthalmology
  department (1983 to 1986)
• founded the American Institute for the Prevention
  of Blindness and serves as the organization's
  president

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Otis Boykin (Aug. 20, 1920 1982)

• Attended Fisk University and Illinois Institute
  of Technology (1946-47)
• Developed a type of resistor used in computers,
  radios, television sets, and a variety of
  electronic devices
• Responsible for inventing the electrical device
  used in
• Guided missiles,
• IBM computers,
• Also 26 other electronic devices
• His resistor designs reduced the cost of
  producing electronic controls for radio and
  television, for both military and commercial
  applications

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Jan Ernst Matzeliger (Sept. 15, 1852 Aug. 24,
1889)

• Invented a shoe-lasting machine and patented his
  invention in 1883
• Before the invention, shoes were produced in a
  factory at a rate of 40-50 pairs a day
• Using the invention, shoe production increased to
  between 150 to 700 pairs of shoes a day
• In addition to production, As a result of this
  invention shoe prices were cut in half across the
  nation
• This invention laid the foundation of the shoe
  industry in the United States and made Lynn,
  Massachusetts the shoe capital of the world

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References

• www.nobelprize.org
• www.aaregistry.com
• www.sce.com
• www.math.buffalo.edu
• www.infoplease.com