Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)MRI allows physicians to see and diagnose soft tissue without surgery. Background MRI is one of these cases where everybody argues somebody else invented it for patent priority. However, courts and historians find that physician Raymond Damadian was first to make an MRI that scans people (prior MRI’s would scan small pieces of organic material). … Continue reading "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)"
Vulcanized RubberVulcanization is the process that makes rubber useful. Before vulcanization rubber was effectively a useless gooey material. It melted in the heat, went brittle in the cold, and made for terrible raincoats. Vulcanization stabilized rubber in a useful state. The rubber we know now exists due to vulcanization. Charles Goodyear ran a small but successful … Continue reading "Vulcanized Rubber"
Pneumatic Hammer (Jackhammer)1871 As the US and Europe quickly built ever-larger cities and railroads they needed equipment to manipulate the earth at a large scale. The jackhammer is one of these innovations. The jackhammer vastly lowered the cost of blasting rocks and coal. Before the jackhammer men used hammers to blast away at rocks, breaking big rocks … Continue reading "Pneumatic Hammer (Jackhammer)"
Vacuum Tube (Diode)Working for the Edison Electrical Light Company of England, Sir John Fleming invented the diode, a vacuum tube at the heart of all early electronics. Radios, television, telephones, computers – virtually every electronic we’re familiar with today – was first built with diodes. Diodes are typically vacuum tubes, though some have specialized gasses in them. … Continue reading "Vacuum Tube (Diode)"
Hard Disk DriveDisk drives quickly store and retrieve information for computers. The primary inventor is Reynold “Rey” Johnson. Previously, he invented and sold the technology that reads pencil dots, usually for taking tests, to IBM. Subsequently, he then joined them as a staff engineer. While at IBM he developed the hard disk drive. The first hard drive, … Continue reading "Hard Disk Drive"
Digital Mobile PhoneDigital mobile phones vastly reduce the cost of mobile phones by enabling many more phones to utilize the same number of towers. After the successful launch of analog mobile phones, the need for a digital standard quickly became apparent. Digital phones are smaller, use less power, and require fewer towers. There are two mobile digital … Continue reading "Digital Mobile Phone"
Commercial Business Computer (EDVAC/UNIVAC)Mauchly and Eckert, inventors of the ENIAC, set out to create a commercial computer. They worked with government officials who needed fast computing, including military and census officials. Eventually, their employer, the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Engineering announced an intent to keep all patents produced by faculty. Henceforth, the two promptly resigned and … Continue reading "Commercial Business Computer (EDVAC/UNIVAC)"
Planned Communities / Cookie-Cutter SuburbsLevitt produced inexpensive homes. He subcontracted building parts of the home to specialists who would do the same work repeatedly, from house to house. His methods reduced costs and increased quality: a standardized parts assembly line for houses. Levitt’s methods were copied with cookie-cutter style suburbs dotting the US especially, where people have limited choices … Continue reading "Planned Communities / Cookie-Cutter Suburbs"
Heart-Lung Machine / Cardiopulmonary BypassHeart-Lung machines temporarily do the work of the heart and lungs allowing surgeons to operate on the heart or lungs. Despite the sci-fi nature, it was a husband-wife garage invention. Background In 1931, surgeon John Gibbon lost a patient he felt sure would have lived if he could temporarily keep blood circulating and oxygenated. He … Continue reading "Heart-Lung Machine / Cardiopulmonary Bypass"
About MichaelInnowiki founding member Michael Olenick is currently an executive fellow at the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, on the Fontainebleau, France campus. Michael has worked closely with Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne since 2001, before the book Blue Ocean Strategy came out in 2005, when it was articles in Harvard Business Review. Michael learned about … Continue reading "About Michael"
Spread Spectrum Frequency Hopping1941 Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler (Hedy Lamarr)George Antheil Spread spectrum frequency hopping synchronizes devices to speak over changing frequencies. The technology jumps from one frequency to another in a predetermined but predictable manner so that the sender and recipient can change simultaneously. Lamarr and Antheil created the technology to contribute to the WWII effort, though … Continue reading "Spread Spectrum Frequency Hopping"
Magnetic Tape RecordingPoulsen, a Danish engineer, created and patented a machine that recorded onto magnetic tape. His called the invention a Telegraphone. There was no amplification and the recording quality was poor. In 1928, Pfleumer, a German, vastly improved the magnetic tape. He named his device a Magnetophone. During WWII the Germans used it for communications and … Continue reading "Magnetic Tape Recording"
Global Positioning System (GPS)GPS uses satellites to compute positioning in 3D space, allowing automatic mapping and advanced navigation. The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite on October 4, 1957. Sputnik did nothing but send out radio pings audible on radio receivers on earth. Conveniently, they launched the satellite to fly over then arch-enemy the United States. As scientists … Continue reading "Global Positioning System (GPS)"
LASERLASER’s allow light to be intensely focused. There are many uses, from reading digital media at low power to cutting at higher powers. Countless applications rely on LASER technology. In 1957, Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes, of Bell Labs, worked on an infrared LASER, called an “optical MASER.” They patented the invention in 1958. In … Continue reading "LASER"
Random Access MemoryRandom Access Memory (RAM) is a type of fast memory. The Central Processing Unit (CPU), the brain of a computer, relies on RAM. RAM exists to this day. Every computer, including smartphones, contains RAM. The “random” in RAM refers to its ability to access memory anywhere, instantly, unlike a disk drive that must search for … Continue reading "Random Access Memory"
