Thank an Inventor

Thank an Inventor - Tracee Ellis Ross

Thank an Inventor is back! Each week we'll feature an individual whose invention has made a difference in the world.

THANK AN INVENTOR - TRACEE ELLIS ROSS: In 2019, Tracee Ellis Ross create Pattern, a line of products that gave her hair the support it needed to be its true self. Not finding the perfect product for her hair, Ellis Ross took it upon herself to create the line of haircare products she felt were missing from the market. Pattern focuses on healthy hair and encourages each hair texture to take up as much space as it desires.

Source: People.com

Thanks an Inventor: Reshma Saujani

THANK AN INVENTOR - AAPI MONTH: Reshma Saujani is a Silicon Valley pioneer, inventor, and author. Though her background is in the legal field, her work has focused on achieving gender parity in tech. Saujani founded Girls Who Code, and authored two books, "Girls Who Code" and "Brave, Not Perfect."

Source: Girls Who Code

Thank an Inventor: Maddy Park

THANK AN INVENTOR - AAPI MONTH: Madeline Park created Cafe Maddy Cab, a community-led fundraising initiative to pay for cab rides for vulnerable members of New York City’s community: Asian elderly, Asian women and Asian members of the LGBTQ community. By combining her beautiful, selfless act of wanting to protect the community, with the recognition of the power of digital platforms, Maddy was able to raise awareness and create effective change. Starting with her own donation of $2,000 to the fund, Cafe Maddy Cab has since raised over $100,000 -- proving that we all truly can be the change we want to see in this world.

Source: ABC News

THANK AN INVENTOR - DR. TED FUJITA

THANK AN INVENTOR - AAPI MONTH: Dr. Ted Fujita kept very detailed notes in his professional and private life. His curiosity about, well, everything, led him to draw conclusions no one else had seen before. Among his observations was the fact that not all tornadoes are the same and, after studying them for years, he created a six-point scale to measure their intensity, known as the Fujita Scale.

Source: PBS AAPI Pioneers

THANK AN INVENTOR - Chien-Shiung Wu

THANK AN INVENTOR - AAPI MONTH: Chien-Shiung Wu is often referred to as the First Lady of Physics. Her work in experimental physics advanced the work of the Manhattan Project when she was recruited to resolve issues that were occurring at its Hanford site. While women were often kept out of the Manhattan Project's research positions or omitted from the history books, Wu's contributions to science at large can not be overlooked. Her work helped the two men win the Nobel Prize, but she was not recognized by the Nobel Prize committee.

Source: Thought Co.

Thank an Inventor: Lisa Gelobter

THANK AN INVENTOR - WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: Some debate how to pronounce "GIF" (GIF or JIF...), but we all love to use them! Lisa Gelobter was closely involved with the 1995 creation of Shockwave as a software engineer, the technology that helped to develop web animation, like GIFs! She also helped launch Hulu and served on the senior management team.

Source: O Magazine

Thank an Inventor: Elizabeth Magie

THANK AN INVENTOR - WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: Top Hat or Racecar? Elizabeth Magie's "The Landlord's Game," was patented in 1904, 30 years before a very similar game called Monopoly was picked up by Parker Brothers.

Source: USA TODAY

Thank an Inventor - Women's History Month: Tabitha Babbitt

THANK AN INVENTOR - WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: While working as a weaver, Tabitha Babbitt watched people struggling to cut wood with a pit saw, which required two users and only cut in one direction. Determined to help, she attached a circular blade to her spinning wheel and invented the much more efficient circular saw.

📖 source: USA TODAY

Thank an Inventor - Women's History Month

THANK AN INVENTOR - WOMAN'S HISTORY MONTH: Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta were graduate students at Columbia University's School of Architecture when the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010; in one of their classes, they were assigned a project to find a way to help with disaster relief. After speaking to a relief worker, Stork and Sreshta realized that there was an often-forgotten need after disasters strike: light. The pair decided to create an inflatable, waterproof, and solar-powered light, the LuminAID Solar Light. Their design can be packed flat, charges in 6 hours to provide light for 16, and even features a handle to make it easy to carry. They used a crowdfunding campaign to make their first 1,000 lights, and after LuminAID became a favorite with outdoor enthusiasts — and in home emergency kits — they started a Give Light Project: one light is donated for every light purchased. They have since provided lights to Nepal and to Syrian refugees. Thanks to the work of these two creative innovators, more people will have access to the gift of light during the darkest of times.

Anna and Andrea's LuminAid Solar Light is now available on Amazon as a Waterproof Lantern or in a new version that includes the Lantern Plus Phone Charger.

Source: A Mighty Girl, https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12223

Thank an Inventor - Women's History Month: Dr. Shirley Jackson

THANK AN INVENTOR - WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: To answer, or send to voice mail... that is the question. Dr. Shirley Jackson is an American physicist who received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973. She was the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear physics at MIT. Her experiments with theoretical physics paved the way for numerous developments in the telecommunication space including the touch-tone telephone, the portable fax, caller ID, call waiting, and the fiber-optic cable.

source: Thinkgrowth

Thank an Inventor - Black History Month: Lonnie Johnson

THANK AN INVENTOR - BLACK HISTORY MONTH: nothing says summer like a water fight. Meet Lonnie Johnson, the man that gave us the Super Soaker. Lonnie wasn’t a toy maker, he was actually an Aerospace Engineer for NASA with a resume boasting a stint with the US Air Force, work on the Galileo Jupiter probe and Mars Observer project, and more than 40 patents.

source: Thinkgrowth

Thank an Inventor - Black History Month: Garrett Morgan

THANK AN INVENTOR - BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Stop! Ok, go. With only an elementary school education, Black inventor (and son of an enslaved parent), Garrett Morgan came up with several significant inventions, including the improved sewing machine and the gas mask. However, one of Morgan's most regularly used inventions was the improved traffic light. Without his innovation, drivers across the nation would be directed by a two-light system.

Thanks to the successes of his other inventions, Morgan became the first Black person in Cleveland, Ohio to own a car. As a motorist, he witnessed a severe car accident at an intersection in the city. In response, he decided to expand on the current traffic light by adding a “yield” component, warning oncoming drivers of an impending stop. He took out the patent for the creation in 1923, and it was granted to him the following year.

Thank an Inventor - Black History Month

THANK AN INVENTOR - BLACK HISTORY MONTH: How many chips did you dip yesterday? You have George Crum to thank for the tasty snack. As the story goes, Mr. Crum, a chef and restaurateur, unintentionally created the potato chip during the summer of 1853. They were made in response to a customer who sent back their fried potatoes after complaining they were too thick. The crisps were an instant hit, and though Crum never patented the creations, chips are arguably now one of the world's favorite snacks.

source: O, The Oprah Magazine

QUICK LINKS

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy

Calendar of Observances

Thank an Inventor

Juneteenth

EDI in Spring-Ford

School Name

Thank an Inventor