Inventors

This whiz in the lab and tiger in the court also wrote love poems. Born in 1848 in Massachusetts, Lewis Latimer enlisted in the Union Navy and fought in the Civil War. After his honorable discharge, his love of drawing and self-taught skills in drafting helped him secure a job with the patent lawyers Crosby and Gould. There he met Alexander Graham Bell, who selected Latimer to create the patent drawings for the first telephone.

By the age of 26, Latimer had earned his own first patent for an improved toilet for railway cars. He was then hired as a draftsman by Hiram Maxim (inventor of the first machine gun) at the U.S. Electric Lighting Company. In 1881, along with co-inventor Joseph V. Nichols, he earned a patent for a major improvement to the light bulb – a carbon filament that lasted much longer than the filaments originally used by Edison. An improved method of attaching light bulb filaments was also part of the patent.

In 1881, Latimer supervised the installation of electric lighting in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal. He was then invited to London to supervise the installation of that city’s lighting.

Hired away by the Edison Electric Light Company, he worked first as a draftsman in the Engineering Department, then in the Legal Department. In 1890, Latimer authored a book, Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System, which was the first know book on electric lighting.

In 1918, he was chosen as one of the 24 Edison Pioneers, an elite division of the Edison Company. Upon Latimer’s death in 1928, the company’s tribute to him included this description: “Broadmindedness, versatility in the accomplishment of things intellectual and cultural, a linguist, a devoted husband and father, all were characteristic of him.”

Other inventions by Latimer included “an apparatus for cooling and disinfecting;” a locking rack for hats, coats and umbrellas; and book supports. He was also a musician, philanthropist, poet and author of the book Poems of Love and Life.

Many people – whether from federal agencies or private corporations are familiar with Janet Emerson Bashen. In 2006, Bashen became the first African American female to earn a patent for a software invention. LinkLine is a web-based application used in investigating equal employment opportunity (EEO) claims for companies. Bashen is also the founder of the Bashen Corporation, a firm that specializes in action plans, training dispute resolution and investigating EEO claims. Among the many services offered to her clients, Bashen utilizes her invention to strengthen a company’s culture and increase profits and productivity through EEO compliance. Bashen’s firm, located in Houston, Texas, has investigated more than 12,000 EEO claims since its founding more than 12 years ago.

The heavily contested 2000 presidential election led to increased skepticism about the accuracy of the U.S. voting process and the machines used to receive ballots. Athan Gibbs, a man with great vision, created the TruVote Vote Validation System, an electronic voting machine. TruVote, a user-friendly technology developed to address concerns about the accuracy vote counts, helps ensure open, transparent and accurate elections. It includes a voter ID and PIN number and provides a voter-verified paper ballot which creates a paper trail by printing out a voter ballot that can be reviewed for correctness.

Joseph Gammel has more than 11 patents for devices that enhance the performance of mechanisms and their energy output. One of Gammel’s industry-changing designs is a bladeless turbine electric generator application. Gammel’s device is being used to extract energy from ocean waves by CenterPoint Energy(CNP), a utility located in Houston, Texas, and the largest natural gas distributor serving six southern states. CNP houses a one-of-a-kind fractional-horsepower electric generator that utilizes Gamell's revolutionary patented bladeless turbine technology to power its generators. His device was designed to meet CNP’s energy needs and help them avoid an energy crisis. Gammel’s application still operates today, the same as it did 28 years ago when it was invented.

Hildreth “Hal” Walker is a pioneer in the field of electrooptical technologies. Working for Union Carbide's Laser Systems division, he led a team that adapted a ruby laser for measuring the distance from the Earth to the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Walker went on to join Hughes Aircraft, where, in 1981, he developed the first laser targeting systems for the U.S. Army. In recent years he has been building a workable nationwide support system for battery-operated vehicles, and in 1991, helped invent an automated battery replacement system. Hildreth and his wife, Bettye Walker, co-founded the nonprofit corporation African-American Male Achievers Network, Inc., (A-MAN) along with the International Science Discovery and Learning Center (ISD&L) in Los Angeles. Both organizations use science and technology to motivate and educate students and help facilitate professional development for youth ages 5 to 18.

While working as a United States Air Force materials research engineer, John Christian invented and patented new lubricants for use in high flying aircraft and NASA space missions. These lubricants work well from minus 50 to 600 degrees, a significantly wider temperature range than previous products. The lubricants were used in helicopter fuel lines, astronauts’ back-pack life support systems, and in the four-wheel drive of the "moon-buggy."

Born in Ghana, West Africa, Dr. Thomas Mensah’s inventions have impacted the way we use a fax machine, access electronic banking, the Internet, and other electronic communications. He holds seven patents in fiber optics and is one of only four scientists in the world to develop a mechanism for manufacturing fiber optics. Dr. Mensah’s professional experience includes working at AT&T Bell Laboratories where he led the program to develop fiber optic reels used in the guided missile program. He is also a leader in designing advanced laser guided weapons, working on specialized projects for the U.S. Army, the Department of Energy and NASA. Dr. Mensah founded the firm Supercond Technology in Atlanta, Georgia that assisted in the development of materials for supersonic fighter aircrafts. He is the first African American to serve as the national chairman of the Materials and Engineering Sciences division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In 1974, Mensah earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology, Kumusi in Ghana. He also earned a Certificate of Modeling of Chemical Processes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Montpelier in France in 1978..

Dr. Mark Dean was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Dean graduated at the top of his class from the University of Tennessee where he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering then later attended Stanford where he received his Ph.D. After joining IBM, Dean was the first African American to be named an IBM Fellow. Serving in several engineering positions at IBM related to computer system hardware architecture, Dean developed many types of computer systems including embedded systems to supercomputers and testing the first gigahertz (GHz) CMOS microprocessor. He holds three of IBM's original nine PC patents that served as the basis for all personal computers and currently holds more than 20 U.S. patents. One of his computer inventions occurred while leading an IBM research team that produced the 1- GHz chip, which contains one million transistors and has nearly limitless potential. One of his most recognized contributions is his partnership with a with a co-inventor to create the ISA systems bus that allows external devises like modems and printers to be connected to personal computers.

Emmett W. Chappelle is a scientist and researcher who made valuable contributions in several fields including medicine, biology, food science and astrochemistry. His developments provided a means for scientists to detect plant stress. As a result, individuals in the agriculture and horticulture industry improved food production by adjusting planting, irrigation and fertilization methods. Chappelle was also a biochemist for the Research Center for Space Exploration and worked with NASA to create a safe oxygen supply for astronauts. Chappelle also proved that the number of bacteria in drinking water can be measured by the amount of light given off by that bacteria. Chappelle is widely noted for the development of the techniques currently being used to detect bacteria in urine, blood, spinal fluids, drinking water, and foods. Born in 1925, his work over the years earned him an induction to the Inventors Hall of Fame in 2007 for his contributions to the fields of biology and chemistry.

Today we can use a liquid chlorine bleach that is gentle on cotton fabrics, thanks to Lawnie Taylor. Taylor, a noted African American scientist, was working in his laundry room laboratory when he discovered a way to modify hypochlorite (chlorine) bleach such that it could be used without damaging cotton. Taylor dubbed his invention GLEE and was awarded two U.S. patents for his discovery. GLEE, when added to standard chlorine bleach, makes the solution less acidic so there is less damage to fabrics while also inceasing cleaning power. Taylor also had a successful career as a physicist, having worked for the Department of Energy conduting research on solar technologies, Columbia University’s Nuclear Laboratory and in the Xerox Corporation’s space program. Recognized for his talents, he received an award from NASA for his efforts supporting an Apollo experiment.Taylor resides in Washington D.C. and is working to commercialize GLEE.