Today in History – March 31, 1889 – Eiffel Tower opens. The 300m Eiffel Tower was commissioned to commemorate the French Revolution. Amazingly, all of the elements were prepared in Gustav Eiffel’s factory located at Levallois-Perret on the outskirts of Paris. There were 18,000 pieces used to construct the Tower. Each piece was designed and produced with an accuracy of a tenth of a millimetre. The construction crew of 150 to 300 workers assembled the tower on site like a gigantic erector set. The foundation work began in January 1887 and was completed in five months. The tower was assembled twenty-one months later on March 31, 1889. Eiffel received his decoration from the Legion of Honour on the narrow platform at the top.”

Eiffel’s accomplishments over a century ago are amazing considering the technology of his time. Yet there is still a lesson for us today in the benefits of lean construction techniques, an approach that maximizes value to the customer and minimizes waste.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on the Eiffel Tower and Construction Engineering. For related educational resources, visit the Civil Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, or Architectural Engineering Education community sites.

Also today in 1966, the U.S.S.R. launches first lunar orbiter.

Today in History - April 6, 1938 - Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She was one of the most famous women aviators in history. Earhart worked as a nurse’s aide in a military hospital in Canada during WWI and became a social worker after attending college. She took her first flying lesson on January 3, 1921, and managed to save enough money to buy her first plane soon afterwards. Although not an engineer, Amelia Earhart inspired many of us to go into engineering and to appreciate cutting-edge technologies. Although Amelia Earhart lived in a time when women were rarely associated with technology, she distinguished herself by bettering both women’s and men’s aviation records.

March is Women’s History Month. Below I highlight some of the Engineering Pathway’s blogs on women’s contributions to engineering, computer science and entrepreneurship.

Patricia Galloway, first female president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), blogs on Elsie Eaves - first female engineer in ASCE to be elected as a full member on March 14, 1927.

Lucy Sanders, CEO of the Center for Women in Information Technology blogs on the unveiling of the ENIAC on February 14, 1946, the world’s first digital electronic computer, as well as on the contributions of women in computing.

Jasmina Vujic, Chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley, blogs on Lise Meitner and her groundbreaking publication that first introduced the world to nuclear fission on February 11, 1939.

Chad-Eric Montgommery blogs on two African American women. On March 1, 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first African American woman to receive a medical degree. Also see the blog on Sara Breedlove Walker, the first self-made millionairess hair product inventions for African American women.

Pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Helen Taussig, was one of the doctors at Johns Hopkins who performed the first open heart surgery on November 29, 1944.

I enjoyed researching for the blog on November 13, 1913 – Mary Phelps Jacobs invents modern bra. And also on Dr. Mary Walker, the first female army surgeon to be awarded the Medal of Honor on November 11, 1875.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s many educational resources on women in engineering, women in information technology, women inventors and gender equity. Also read and comment on our most commented resource - the National Academies’ Beyond Bias and Barriers report.

Columbus, Ohio-March 3, 2008 Blockbuster movies and even soft drink commercials have made our planet’s polar regions and their inhabitants popular culture superstars. At the same time many people have either been confronted with what they believe to be climate change weather events, or find themselves wondering about how melting polar ice sheets and rising ocean temperatures might affect their lives in the future. Despite this onslaught of data, scientific discovery, drama and speculation, misconceptions about the polar regions and their importance abound.

As attention continues to turn to polar environments a coalition of specialists from science, literacy and educational organizations nationwide is pleased to announce the launch of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, an online professional development magazine for elementary teachers. This issue features content-rich web sites, interactive videos, animations, articles written specifically for K-2 and 3-5 students that are available in text-only versions as well as in printable, foldable book versions, photographs that highlight polar beauty and mystery, and even a poetry lesson plan that features work contributed by elementary school students in Anchorage, Alaska. The magazine focuses on developing teacher content knowledge about the Arctic and Antarctica and enabling teaching of polar science concepts in already-crowded curricula. By integrating inquiry-based science with literacy teaching, developers aim to increase students’ science knowledge, academic language, reading comprehension, and written and oral discourse abilities.

Jessica Fries-Gaither, elementary resource specialist and project director for Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears notes, “As a former elementary teacher in Alaska, I understand the difficulty of finding time for quality science instruction. Yet in the face of issues such as global climate change and dramatically changing polar regions, it is essential that science, specifically polar science, is included. We are particularly pleased to offer this new online magazine that transfers current polar research and best practices in science and literacy instruction to classrooms nationwide.”

Science instruction in the elementary years has historically been limited or even omitted entirely. However, No Child Left Behind-mandated testing in science increases pressure on schools and teachers to devote time to quality science instruction. The intersection of mandated science testing, International Polar Year research and outreach initiatives, and a growing awareness of worldwide climate change make Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears a timely and relevant undertaking.

Twenty thematic issues of the online magazine will include standards-based science and content-rich literacy learning across five departments (In the Field: Scientists at Work, Professional Learning, Science and Literacy, Across the Curriculum, and Polar News and Notes). Engaging science activities, compelling images, rich text, and multimedia resources such as podcasts and videos and even a browseable Virtual Bookshelf that includes quality children’s literature for classroom use are designed to capture the interest of both teachers and students. Strategies for integrating technology, addressing misconceptions, and ensuring equity in the classroom are topics of emphasis.

In a time of observable and measurable climate change, it is vitally important to understand the science of the polar regions. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears helps teachers go beyond a superficial understanding and foster deep, meaningful scientific understanding at a critical time-both in their students’ development and for the planet’s well being.

Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears is funded by the National Science Foundation Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL). Kimberly Lightle, Principal Investigator for the NSDL Middle School Portal developed by The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology and also Principal Investigator for the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears magazine coordinates a team of collaborators including an interdisciplinary team from Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology; the Ohio Resource Center for Mathematics, Science, and Reading; the Byrd Polar Research Center; The Columbus Center for Science and Industry; the Upper Arlington Public Library; and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). Content and education specialists are creating content as well as adapting and contextualizing existing content from NSDL. NSDL is also adapting Fedora-based tools to facilitate editorial workflow, dissemination, and promotion of the magazine. The Evaluation and Assessment Center at Miami University in Oxford, OH is conducting ongoing project evaluation including teacher focus groups and usability testing that will inform iterative design going forward.

Today in History - February 17, 1998 - Voyager 1 becomes the most distant human-made object from the Sun. Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977 and it passed Saturn in November 1980. It continues a trajectory that takes it out of the solar system, making it the most distant spacecraft from Earth and our Sun (as far as we know). It has passed the “ termination shock“, the place where the solar wind abruptly slows down, and traveled through a zone called the “ heliosheath“ where the Sun’s magnetic field and solar wind dominate the environment. Its boundary, called the heliopause, is where the interstellar wind takes over. A second spacecraft, the Voyager 2, was launched earlier on August 20, 1977 but Voyager 1 reached the outer solar system and interstellar space earlier due to its trajectory design for outer space and gravity-assist from Jupiter.

Sharing Carl Sagan’s belief that Earth is not the only planet with advanced technology, I find the “Golden Record “ one of the most interesting parts of the Voyager mission. This gold-plated copper “phonograph record” is a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to “extraterrestrials”. Assembled by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University, these sounds and images were “ selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth“.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on the Voyager 1 and space exploration. For related educational resources, visit the Aerospace Engineering Education Community site. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Also on this date in 1901, Kettering’s first electric self-starter was installed on automobile, allowing drivers to start the automobile engine without having to crank it. Kettering was involved in a number of research projects at Delco Automotive, inventing a portable electric generator and other important automobile innovations, such as electric lights for automobiles for night time use. General Motors purchased Delco in 1916, much due to Kettering’s inventions and commercial successes. Kettering led a research and development division at General Motors and became a vice president in the company in 1920. He continued to develop new technologies for automobiles throughout his life, including spark plugs, leaded gasoline, automatic transmissions, and four-wheel brakes, diesel engines, safety glass, and the refrigerant Freon.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on the Kettering and automotive design. For related educational resources, visit the Mechanical Engineering Education Community site.

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