Showing 1 - 25 of 120 results
Henry Ford
Transmission Mechanism
Pioneering automotive engineer Henry Ford held many patents on automotive mechanisms. He is best remembered, however, for helping devise the factory…
Henry M. Leland
Interchangeable Parts for Automobiles
Henry M. Leland was an inventor, machinist, engineer, and automotive entrepreneur who not only founded two leading American automobile luxury brands…
Ralph Teetor
Cruise Control
Automotive engineer Ralph Teetor invented cruise control in the 1940s. Originally limited to luxury vehicles, this speed control technology has…
Louis Renault
Automobiles
Louis Renault, a Paris native, became one of France's most well known automobile manufacturers, building his first automobile in 1898 and…
John Moses Browning
Breech-Loading Firearm
John Browning advanced the gun industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by designing pioneering, commercially successful guns,…
Charles Richard (C.R.) Patterson
Carriages
Charles Richard (C.R.) Patterson was an inventor and entrepreneur whose successful carriage company, C.R. Patterson & Sons Co., evolved to become…
Carl Benz
Modern Automobile
German engineer Carl Benz was the first to design a car around the internal combustion engine rather than adding an engine to an existing wagon or…
Frances Ligler
Portable Optical Biosensors
Frances Ligler invented portable optical biosensors, benefiting fields from health care to food production to military operations.
Ligler’s lifelong…
John Boyd Dunlop
Pneumatic Tire for Cycles
Scotsman John Dunlop developed the first practical pneumatic tire in 1888. His tire provided the foundation for the Dunlop Tire Company and served as…
Alexander Winton
Automobile, Bicycle, and Diesel Applications
One of the most skillful and insightful automobile pioneers of his time, Alexander Winton was one of the first Americans to build automobiles for…
Andrew J. Beard
Jenny Coupler for Railroad Cars
Andrew Jackson Beard invented improvements to the automatic railroad car coupler, a device that dramatically reduced serious injuries to railroad…
Alexander Miles
Improved Method for Opening and Closing Elevators
Alexander Miles developed innovations for elevator cabin and shaft doors, making it possible for the doors to automatically open and close. His work…
Dean Kamen
AutoSyringe® Ambulatory Infusion Pump
Dean Kamen's first major innovation was the AutoSyringe®, a class of automatic, self-contained ambulatory infusion pumps designed to free patients…
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…
Michael J. Owens
Glass-Shaping Machine
Michael Owens played a major role in the history of glass product manufacturing with his automatic glass-blowing machine.
Born in Mason County, West…
Richard Gurley Drew
Adhesive Tape
Richard Drew invented masking tape and transparent cellophane tape, the first modern pressure sensitive tapes.Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Drew…
Wilhelm Maybach
Explosion and Combustion Motor
As an industrialist and designer of automobiles and engines, Wilhelm Maybach enjoyed an illustrious career and a profitable working relationship with…
Almon Brown Strowger
Automatic Telephone-Dialing System
Almon Strowger, an undertaker from Kansas City, Missouri, invented a mechanism that revolutionized the telephone industry and controlled telephone…
Alois A. Langer
Implantable Heart Defibrillator
Alois A. Langer was the engineer on the medical team that invented the first automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). This device is…
Nils I. Bohlin
Safety Belt
Nils Bohlin, while with Volvo, invented the three-point safety belt, a standard in the modern automobile. Early tests showed that the belt was…
James McEwen
Automatic Surgical Tourniquet
Biomedical engineer James McEwen invented the first microprocessor-controlled automatic surgical tourniquet system. Devices based on his innovations…
M. Stephen Heilman
Implantable Heart Defibrillator
Stephen Heilman co-invented the automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator, a device that detects and corrects heart arrhythmias in patients…
Haren Gandhi
Automotive Exhaust Catalysts
Advanced emission-control technology in the late 20th century created cleaner air worldwide, thanks to the introduction of the catalytic converter…
Joseph Lee
Bread Machines
Joseph Lee was a pioneer in the automation of bread and breadcrumb making in the late 1800s. He invented machines for use in the hospitality industry…
Raffaello D’Andrea
Mobile Robotic Material Handling for Order Fulfillment
Raffaello D’Andrea, Mick Mountz and Peter Wurman dramatically advanced warehouse order fulfillment for e-commerce by creating the Kiva system, which…