10/06/2022
Hi Melissa,
We already know October 6th is a very special day because it’s your birthday! But did you know you share your birthday with inventor and former NASA engineer Lonnie Johnson?
Imagine being thirteen years old and building a go-kart out of junkyard scraps and powering it with the engine from a lawnmower. You don’t have your driver’s license yet, but you can’t wait to feel the thrill of the open road, so onto the highway you go. You’re racing along with the wind blowing through your hair and the sun shining on your face when you hear the familiar wail of police sirens – busted! This is the very situation young Lonnie Johnson found himself in when he first started experimenting with mechanical engineering. His future exploits proved much more successful – he invented the Super Soaker and the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter that transforms heat into electricity, and he holds over 80 patents!
Lonnie George Johnson was born on October 6th, 1949 in Mobile, Alabama. His father taught Johnson and his siblings to build their own toys, which sparked his love of creation and invention. In 1968, he represented his school in a science fair. He was the only black student to compete and won with a robot powered by compressed air. Johnson went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and his master’s degree in nuclear engineering. He joined the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command and then moved on to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1979, where he served as a systems engineer for the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn.
Today on your birthday, I’d like to wish you joy and success. As you look ahead and set goals for the coming year, I hope you will find inspiration in the brilliant innovator with whom you share your birthday. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to engineer the perfect birthday celebration. Like Johnson, just be fearless when it comes to dreaming big and seizing opportunities.
Today, let’s celebrate all your accomplishments, although we know you’re only getting started!
Happy Birthday Melissa!