Inspirational Engineers & Scientists

This Black History Month, Aerospace Bristol will be sharing the stories of inspirational people from science and engineering. Check this page and follow Aerospace Bristol on Facebook, twitter and Instagram for #BlackHistoryMonth posts throughout October.

You may also be interested in Hidden Stories of Black Achievement from the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Dr. Mae Jemison

Twitter: @maejemison

Aerospace engineer, physicist and medical doctor Mae Jemison grew up watching sci-fi shows like Star Trek and dreaming about becoming an astronaut. She was a huge fan of Lieutenant Uhura and strongly believed that there should be more female astronauts. Passionate about science, Mae earned a degree in Chemical Engineering and African and African American Studies from Stanford, and a Medical Degree from Cornell. Before joining NASA, she spent 2 years in the Peace Corps as a medical officer. In 1992, she fulfilled her dream, becoming a mission Specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the first African American woman to travel in space. She is currently leading the 100 Year Starship project that aims to make sure humans can travel to another star in the next 100 years.

Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock

An inspiring British space scientist and science communicator, Maggie was born in London in 1968 to Nigerian parents. She overcame dyslexia and discouragement from teachers to gain BSc in Physics and her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. She then spent 3 years working for the UK Ministry of Defence, before going back to academia, where she worked on a high-resolution spectrograph for the Gemini telescope in Chile.

Maggie is passionate about inspiring young people to pursue careers in science. She has presented numerous BBC TV programmes, including In Orbit and The Sky at Night, and wrote the book Dr Maggie’s Grand Tour of the Solar System.

Arnaldo Tamayo Mendez

Arnaldo travelled to the Soviet space station Salut 6 in September 1980, carrying out experiments to discover the cause of Space Adaptation Syndrome. By doing so, the Cuban Military Officer and Cosmonaut simultaneously became both the first person of African and of Hispanic descent to travel into space. His mission was part of the Soviet Interkosmos programme, designed to help their allies get into space. He was honoured by the Cuban government and awarded the titles of Hero of the Republic of Cuba and the Order of Playa Giron. He is also a recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union Award and his space suit is preserved in the Museum of the Revolution in Havana.

Lilian Bader

An Aircraft Technician for the WAAF, Lilian Bader volunteered to join the WAAF on 28 March 1941. She trained as an Instrument Repairer and becoming one of the first women in the air force to qualify in that trade. Posted to RAF Shawbury, Lilian worked long hours checking for faults in the instruments of the aircraft based there. She was good at her job and was promoted to Acting Corporal. Lilian was born in Liverpool on 18 February 1917. Her father was a Barbadian who had served in the Royal Navy and her mother was Irish.

Learn more about Lilian Bader at blackhistorymonth.org.uk.

Ursula Burns

A mechanical engineer and incredibly successful executive, Burns became the CEO of Xerox in 2009, making her the first Black Female CEO to lead a Fortune 500 company. Since then she has served on numerous boards including Boston Scientific, MIT Corporation and VEON. She currently sits on the Boards of both AMEX and Uber amongst other companies. An inspiration to young women across the globe, Burns led the White House National STEM Programme under the Obama administration.

Jerry Lawson

Creator of the first cartridge-based video game console, the Fairchild Channel F, and the first major Black video game engineer and designer. Lawson’s engineering skills were self-taught; he grew up tinkering with electronics and radio equipment and earned money fixing TVs during high school. Lawson was also a member of the Homebrew Computer Club along with fellow computer pioneers Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Lewis H. Latimer

An American inventor and engineer, Lewis Latimer served in the US Navy before, in 1865, going to work at a patent law firm. He showed great skill for technical drawing and was promoted to head Draftsman. Latimer was involved in the patents for a number of amazing inventions. He patented inventions included an electric lamp, an improved toilet system for train cars, an early air cooling and disinfecting system and, most famously, a new way of producing carbon filament for light bulbs which made them last much longer. He became an expert in patents for electric lighting and was hired be the Edison Electric Lighting Company. Whilst there, he wrote the first book on electric lighting, Incandescent Electric Lighting published in 1890.  Latimer supervised the installation of public electric lights in New York, Montreal and London and, after Leaving Edison, became a patent consultant to law firms.

Professor Kate Okikiolu

A renowned British mathematician born into a mathematical family, Okikiolu first studied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, before moving to the University of California to complete her PhD. In 1997, she became the first Black person to win a Sloan Research Fellowship, the most prestigious prize for young mathematicians in the US. That same year she also received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for both her research and her work to develop maths curricula for inner-city schoolchildren. She currently works as a professor of mathematics at the University of California and studies elliptical determinants to geometry, which involves investigating the properties of different dimensions in space.

Elijah McCoy

Elijah was born in Ontario Canada in 1844, after his family escaped there from slavery in Kentucky through the Underground Railroad. In 1859, whilst his family moved to Michigan, McCoy travelled to Edinburgh, Scotland, for an Apprenticeship; there he was certified as a mechanical engineer. When he returned to the USA Elijah found work at the Michigan Central Railroad as a fireman and oiler.  He used this experience to invent and patent an automatic lubricator for steam engines. He continued to improve on this system and in the end held over 50 patents relating to these systems. He continued to invent until late in his life and his patents include, a folding ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. Near the end of his career he formed the Elijah McCoy Company to produce steam engine lubricators to his own design.