Showing 76 - 100 of 231 results
Theodore Harold Maiman
Laser
Physicist Theodore Harold Maiman invented the first operable laser. Born in Los Angeles, California, Maiman in his teens earned college money by…
Harold Stephen Black
Negative Feedback Amplifier
Research engineer Harold S. Black revolutionized telecommunications by inventing systems that eliminated feedback distortion in telephone calls. Born…
Ed Morgan
Tubular Steel Track Roller Coaster
Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon set the standard for roller coaster design technology when they engineered the world’s first tubular steel track roller…
Irwin M. Lachman
Ceramic Substrate in Catalytic Converters
Working at Corning, Irwin Lachman co-invented the ceramic substrate found in virtually all catalytic converters. Catalytic converters provide cleaner…
Herman A. Affel
Coaxial Cable
Herman Affel and Lloyd Espenschied invented coaxial cable at AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1929. The coaxial cable opened a wide spectrum…
Ivan E. Sutherland
Display Windowing by Clipping
In 1963, Ivan Sutherland engineered a revolution in computer graphics with his highly-interactive program Sketchpad. It enabled users to design and…
Maxime Faget
Space Capsule Design
Max Faget conceived and designed the first space capsule, Mercury, from which the designs for the Gemini capsule and the Apollo command and service…
Clair Lake
Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Mark I)
Already a prolific inventor at IBM in May 1939, Clair Lake was chosen to be chief engineer for the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, also…
Charles Stark Draper
Stabilizing Gyroscope
Aeronautical engineer and university professor Charles Stark Draper developed gyroscope systems that stabilized and balanced gunsights and bombsights…
Rodney D. Bagley
Ceramic Substrate in Catalytic Converters
Rodney Bagley was on the Corning team that created the ceramic substrate inside catalytic converters. His work was instrumental in allowing the…
Valdemar Poulsen
Magnetic Wire Recorder
Danish engineer Valdemar Poulsen demonstrated magnetic recording in 1898. While working at the Copenhagen Telephone Company, Poulsen began…
Bradford Parkinson
Global Positioning System
Bradford Parkinson developed the Global Positioning System, a locational and navigational system that allows users to determine their location with…
Robert A. Moog
Moog Synthesizer
In 1964, inventor Bob Moog introduced the first complete voltage controlled modular synthesizer, an instrument capable of producing a wide variety of…
Charles W. Tyson
Fluid Catalytic Cracking
Charles "Wes" Tyson and his three co-inventors at Exxon Research & Engineering Co. (ER&E), called the Four Horsemen, were part of the team…
Victor B. Lawrence
Signal Processing in Telecommunications
Victor Lawrence has improved transmission for the modern Internet, made high-speed connections more available, and stimulated the growth of the…
Amos Joel, Jr.
Mobile Communication System
Amos Joel pioneered the system for cell phones of switching communication links from one cell region to another in response to movement, while…
George de Mestral
VELCRO® Fasteners
In 1955, George de Mestral patented VELCRO® hook and loop fasteners, an efficient way to fasten fabrics and other materials. The idea came to him…
James E. West
Electret Microphone
James West and Gerhard Sessler invented the electret microphone, which has advanced the sound industry and become the standard microphone used in…
John Roebling
Suspension Bridge
In 1841, John Roebling invented a wire rope in order to improve upon the bulkier and weaker hemp fiber rope being used to haul canal boats along the…
Ambrose Swasey
Telescope
Ambrose Swasey, inventor of precise astronomical instruments, designed some of the most powerful and accurate telescopes of his day.Swasey was born…
Maria Telkes
Solar Thermal Storage Systems
Maria Telkes was a highly respected innovator in solar energy. Throughout her career, she published widely on the topics of solar heating,…
Peter Wurman
Mobile Robotic Material Handling for Order Fulfillment
Peter Wurman, Mick Mountz and Raffaello D’Andrea created the Kiva system, a mobile robotic system for material handling in distribution centers that…
George Heilmeier
Electro-Optic Liquid Crystal Device
George Heilmeier discovered four new electro-optic effects in liquid crystals in the 1960s and pioneered the first liquid crystal displays (LCDs)…
Marshall Jones
Industrial Lasers
Marshall Jones, a mechanical engineer at General Electric (GE), pioneered the use of lasers for industrial materials processing. He invented novel…
Howard Head
Laminate Ski; Oversized Tennis Racket
Technical revolutions by Howard Head impacted the playing, performance and economics of two major sports industries: skiing and tennis. Head's…