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 Graham Bell Guglielmo Marconi Rudolf Diesel Jan Ernst Matzeliger The Wright Karl Benz Brothers Martin Cooper Samuel Morse Maria Beasley Igor Sikorsky Samuel Colt 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 appli c ation 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! • 1 st revolver patent at 23, in 1836 • Cylinder locking bolt, percussion cap • 1 st 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 MacW right Director, Technology Transfer Office UMass Amherst macwright@umass.edu www.umass.edu/ TTO 18
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