Great Engineer Inventors And Why There Are So Many
September 22, 2016 Robert MacWright, Ph.D., Esq. Director, Technology Transfer Office UMass Amherst Famous Inventor Engineers . Nikola Tesla . Thomas Edison . James Watt . Alexander . Guglielmo Marconi Graham Bell . Jan Ernst Matzeliger . Rudolf Diesel . Karl Benz . The Wright . Martin Cooper Brothers . . Maria Beasley Samuel Morse . . Samuel Colt Igor Sikorsky
2 Some Simple Reasons Why . The Physical Realm is apparent . Early machines as inspiration . Commercial value perceptible . Vast frontiers . Key discoveries opened doors . Equipment availability . Patents to capture value
3 Personal Qualities . Born problem solvers . Pioneering spirit . Vision – “seeing around corners” . Willing to set impossible goals . Dogged determination . Belief solutions can be found . Disdain for mediocrity . Willing to fail again and again!
4 Nicola Tesla • Studied at Austrian Polytechnic • Came to work for Edison in 1882 • Edison refused to pay reward • Started Tesla Electric in 1886 • Patented first AC motor in 1888 • Licensed to George Westinghouse • Battle between DC and AC • Powered 1893 World’s fair • Hydroelectric at Niagra Falls powers Buffalo • Radio control boat,1898 • Worked 12-21 hours a day 5 James Watt
• Self-taught as instrument maker • Given a workshop at U. Glasgow • Was asked to repair a Newcomen engine, a 50-year old design • Realized 3/4ths of energy was lost cooling the cylinder • 2 innovations in 1765: a separate condenser and a steam jacket • First machine installed in 1776 • Mechanized the Industrial Revolution
6 Samuel F.B. Morse • Charlestown, MA, Yale grad • Famous painter; Washington, Adams • England after wife, parents die • Charles Jackson’s electromagnets • 1-wire telegraph and code on voyage • Repeater with Leonard Gale at NYU • Code expanded to letters by Alfred Vale • Demo to Congress brings in $30K funding • Connected DC and Baltimore • O’Rielly v. Morse, US Supreme Court, declared Morse the true inventor
7 Guglielmo Marconi • Wireless telegraphy was a dream • Radio waves were a curiosity • At age 20, experiments in attic • Studied the growing literature • ½ mile at 21; 3.2 mi at 22 • Acclaimed for lectures in 1898 • Sent messages 1550 mi at 28! • Began regular transatlantic in 1907 • Instrumental in Titanic rescues, 1912 • Began broadcasts in 1922, to become BBC
8 Jan Ernst Matzeliger • Worked in machine shop at 10 • A sailor, came to MA at 22 • Worked at Harvey Bros. Shoe Co. • “Lasting” of shoes by hand; 50/day • Lasters went on strike • Worked long hours for 5 yrs • 6 patents from 1893-1891 • Could last 150-700 pairs/day! • Cut cost of shoes in half!
9 Karl Benz • ME from University of Karlsruhe • Fiancé buys out partner in Factory for Machines • Patents to make money • 2-cycle engine in 1879 • Invented spark ignition, spark plug, carburetor, clutch, gear shift, radiator • 1883, formed Benz & Co with bike shop • Patented first self-propelled vehicle 1886 • Bertha Benz’s famous road trip • 1909, Blitzen Benz reaches 141mph! 10 Martin Cooper • Illinois Institute of Technology • Led Motorola communications • Car phones already available • Cooper’s idea of a personal phone • 1973 Motorola approved the project, team made “the Brick” in 90 days! • 1973 patent application on the cellular concept: overlapping stations and handsets that can switch • First call to his competitor at AT&T! • 10 yrs to launch; $100M, 20 yrs before profits!
11 Maria Beasley • Patented the life raft in 1880 • Several patents on barrel making machines, 1884-1888 • Beasley Standard Barrel Making Co. made 100s/day • Licensed the machine patents to oil and sugar cos - $20,000/yr! • Occupation listed as “inventor” • Displayed her inventions at the 1884 Cotton Centennial Exhibit
12 Samuel Colt • At 15, dreams of the “impossible gun” • At 18 made a pistol that blew up! • 1st revolver patent at 23, in 1836 • Cylinder locking bolt, percussion cap • 1st factory closed in 1843 • Texas Rangers and the Mexican-American War • 1855 Colt Armory was first assembly line factory • Fired Rollin White, inventor of the metal cartridge! • Sold revolvers to the North and the South • After his death, developed “The Peacemaker”
13 Yvonne Brill
. No engineering degree because a woman . 1940, only woman rocket scientist in U.S. . Worked on NASA and IMSO Projects . 1967, invented the hyrdozine resistojet . Satellites need 2 engines: 1-5 lbs + milipounds . Solved weight & complexity; one engine, one fuel . Industry standard for geostationary satellites
14 Why Engineers Don’t Patent . “Only breakthroughs are patentable” • IPhone patents include rounded corners, finger scrolling . “My developments are obvious” • Assume others think like them, apply hindsight . “Nobody would want it” • Millions of small-market products make money daily! . “Patents are un-academic” • Patents bring new products and services to the public . “All software should be free as the air” • Far more Windows users than Linux users
15 Don’t Talk Yourself Out of It! . If you are solving practical problems, you are inventing! . Sending a disclosure is easy . The TTO is there to serve you! . Some of the best inventions are elegantly simple, some complex . Wouldn’t it be exciting to see your invention make it?
16 If in doubt, CALL US! . We are patentability experts . We will search patents, markets . We will make it easy for you . More often than not there is something exciting! . You will learn about patents, and become an even better inventor
17 THANKS!
Bob MacWright Director, Technology Transfer Office UMass Amherst [email protected] www.umass.edu/TTO
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