In celebration of Black History Month our student workers decided to do some research on how African Americans have impacted the engineering industry. This will be an ongoing project throughout the month of February. They have already found these amazing candidates:

  • Norbert Rillieux (1806- 1894)
  • Granville T. Woods (1856- 1910)
  • Garret Morgan (1877- 1963)
  • Otis Boykin ( 1920- 1982)
  • James West (b.1931)
  • George Carruthers (b.1939)
  • Shirley Jackson (b.1946)
  • Mark Dean (b.1957)
  • George Biddle Kelley (1884–1962)
  • Aprille Ericsson (1963 – Current )(age 58 years)
  • Archie Alexander (1888-1958)
  • William H. Dammond (1873- 1956)
  • Elijah McCoy (1844- 1929)
  • Walt Braithwaite (1945 – Current )(age 77 years)
  • Wanda M. Austin (1954- Current)(age 68 years)
  • Shelly Nathan Bailey (1982- 2012)
  • Howard P. grant ( 1925- 1997)
  • Guion Bluford Jr. (1942-Current)(age 79 years)
  • Kimberly Bryant (1967- Current)
  • William Fauntroy (1926-1982*)
  • Kunle Olukotun (b. Uk, London)
  • Mary Jackson (1921-2005)

The photos above are links to pages with information about these awesome people!

If you would like to help us celebrate please feel free to pick a candidate and comment what you know or have learned about the person. By the end of the month the students plan on putting all of this information to use by creating a story map of where they were born and their achievements. We decided to take this route for Black History Month because it is a great and interesting way to learn more about the history of STEM, as well as helping our students practice group research and their map building skills. We look forward to everyone’s messages and comments.