Profiles of Historical Engineers

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Profiles of Historical Engineers
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Nolan K. Bushnell (1943- )
http//www.atarimagazines.com/v3n12/profiles.html
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Father of the Video Game Industry

• Founded Atari in 1972
• Launched video game revolution with Pong
• Sold Atari in 1976
• 28 million
• Found Chuck E. Cheeses restaurant
• Sold after few years
• Started over 20 companies since Atari

http//homepages.compuserve.de/rspezial/vidgas/ata
rilog.htm
http//www.globalicons.com/clients/chucke/main-int
ro-l.html
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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
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Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
http//www.cojeco.cz/index.php?detail1s_lang2i
d_desc23024
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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.ht
m
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An Inventors Adventure

• 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

Edison in front of his Universal Stock Printer
http//dspt.club.fr/EDISONbio.htm
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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/feb
11a.htm
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Greatest Engineer

• 1,093 patents
• 10 companies started
• General Electric was one of the companies
  developed
• Genius is 1 inspiration and 99 perspiration.

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Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
http//digilander.libero.it/mickymaus/index.htm
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Weaponry envisionist

• 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

Da Vinci Drawing on the His Mechanism for Flying
http//home.att.net/o.caimi/Leonardo.html
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Leonardos 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 Dukes 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

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Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)
http//www.cwhistory.com/history/TeacherPack/brune
l.html
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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 fathers
  engineering office
• Advanced to resident engineer of Thames Tunnel at
  age 20

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Competition

• Brunel entered suspension bridge project over
  Avon Gorge
• Top competitor, Thomas Telford, was also a judge
  on the competition panel
• All Brunels designs rejected, Telfords accepted
• One design accepted in second contest

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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

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Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923)
http//www.oya-es.net/reportajes/proteus.htm
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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

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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.

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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

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Henry Ford (1863-1947)
http//www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/civil/jb_civil_f
ord_1_e.html
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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

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Henry Fords 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
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Advancements in Society

• Model T, everymans 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 McDonalds opened

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Dr. Robert Goddard (1882-1945)
http//www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/Voyages/explaini
ng-the-heavens.htm
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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.htm
l
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Unrecognized Contributions

• Contributed to theories and realization of
  rockets
• Labors went unrecognized until dawn of Space
  Age

Dr. Goddard at Clark University in Worcester,
Massachusetts, in 1924
http//history.msfc.nasa.gov/goddard/gallery/gpn-2
002-000130.html
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Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville (1871-1948) Wright
www.uncp.edu/gpac/youth/
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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/lif
t_and_drift.htm
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Accomplishments

• 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

aviationhistory.info/ Wright-photos.html
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Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992)
http//www.dma.eui.upm.es/historia_informatica/Doc
/Personajes/GraceHooper.htm
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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

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Honors and Awards

• 1969 - Data Processing Management Associations
  first Computer Science Man-of-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

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Joseph B. Strauss (1827-1870)
http//www.sfmuseum.org/hist9/mcgloin.html
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The Golden Gate Bridge

• 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

http//www.sfmuseum.net/assoc/bridge07.html
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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
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Leo Szilard (1898-1964)
http//www.exn.ca/Stories/1997/03/20/02.asp
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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

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The Manhattan Project

• 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

http//ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu