Today in History - December 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a bus in Montgomery and galvanized the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks showed the world that a single courageous act could positively change the course of history. How can we use engineering and human-centered technologies to positively impact local communities? How do we integrate human-centered approaches into our curricula? See the Engineering Pathway’s resources on human-centered design and computing and on community service learning. Of note is the EPICS (Engineering Projects for Community Service) program originated in the College of Engineering at Purdue and the 2005 winner of the National Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education.

December 1 also marks the day of notable inventions in the twentieth century. Ford introduced the continuous moving assembly line in his Highland Park, Detroit, Michigan, factory. Faster than the “push” assembly processes before, it was capable of delivering a car every 2-min 38-sec. Using a continuous moving chassis line the method was so successful that the Ford Motor Company became the world’s largest car manufacturer in the world. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on automotive engineering and manufacturing processes. Additional curricular materials on modern manufacturing practices can be found on the Manufacturing Engineering Education or the Industrial Engineering Education community sites.

December 1 also marks the day that the first U.S. patent was issued for the soil-less culture of plants in a large commercial hydroponicum (No. 2,062,755) to Ernest Walfrid Brundin and Frank Farrington Lyon as a “system of water culture” in 1935. Hydroponics - the growing of plants with their roots suspended in water containing mineral nutrients found in soil - was coined in the early 1930s by Professor Gericke at the University of California at Los Angeles from two Greek words: “hydro” (water) and “ponos” (work, labor). See our educational resources in hydroponics and agricultural engineering. Or visit our Biological Systems and Agricultural Engineering Education Community site.