Representation makes a difference when young people consider what they want to be when they grow up. They want to see role models who looks like themselves. To celebrate African American History Month, we highlighted African Americans from history and today’s STEM field who made a difference. Take a look at these 8 inventors, engineers and manufacturers who’s achievements inspire the future generation of young people.

1. CELEBRATING
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
HISTORY MONTH:
8 Inventors, Engineers and
Manufacturers
CADENAS PARTSOLUTIONS

2. Walter Braithwaite
After graduating with a degree in engineering,
Braithwaite took a job with Boeing in 1966. There,
his team developed a computer-aided
design/manufacturing system, which allowed
Boeing to design airplanes and other products
solely through software.
He became the highest-ranking African American
executive at Boeing and served as president of
Boeing Africa for three years before retiring in
2003.
1.
- Boeing CAD Engineer

3. Janet Bashen
Inventor, entrepreneur and businesswoman,
Bashen became the First African-American
woman to receive a patent for a software
invention. Her invention, LinkLine, is a case
management and tracking software that assists
with web-based equal employment opportunity
investigations.
But her success did not come easily. She founded
her business, Bashen Corporation, from her
kitchen table with one client, no office and no
money. She continues grow her company, and has
received several awards for it, including the
prestigious Crystal Award for her business
achievements.
2.
- Software inventor &
businesswoman
Image from Highlighter11, Wikimedia Commons

4. Ursula Burns
After graduating with her master’s in mechanical
engineering, Burns began her career as an intern
for Xerox and did what few people could do. She
climbed the ladder and became CEO of the
Fortune 500 company. She served as CEO for six
years and oversaw the Xerox’s split into two
separate companies.
In the past decade, Forbes listed her as one of the
100 most powerful women in the world.
Additionally, she helped lead the White House
National STEM program from 2009 to 2016 and
served on the US Olympic Committee.
3.
- CEO of Xerox
Image from Fortune Live Media, Flickr

5. Elijah McCoy
When someone says they want the “real McCoy” –
they want the best. However, they might not know
this phrase originated from the high-quality
lubricators invented by this African American
engineer.
McCoy was born in Canada in 1844 after his
parents fled slavery in the US via the Underground
Railroad. The family later returned to the US and
sent McCoy to train in Scotland as an engineer.
Unable to find an engineering job in the US,
McCoy took a job working on a railroad.
There, he received a patent for his first and
most-famous invention: a lubrication device that
made railroad operations more efficient. He
received over 60 patents throughout his life, many
relating to the lubrication system.
4.
- The "real McCoy"

6. Thomas L. Jennings
Jennings was the first African American to receive
a patent in the US, which laid the stones for future
African Americans to receive patents and gain the
rights to their own inventions. After years working
in New York as a tailor and dry cleaner, Jennings
patented his unique cleaning style in 1821, “dry
scouring,” one of the earliest dry-cleaning
methods in modern history.
Back then, enslaved persons couldn’t obtain a
patent. However, Jennings was a free man.
Congress eventually extended the law to allow
African Americans freed or enslaved to receive a
patent. Jennings used his patent money to free the
rest of his family and to help fund abolition
groups.
5.
- Dry cleaning

7. The Women of Hidden
Figures
If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie,
you probably don’t know these historic African
American women. Hidden Figures tells the story of
Kathrine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and
Mary Jackson, NASA mathematicians during the
Space Race.
Despite their importance in several NASA
missions, their value went largely unappreciated.
Johnson calculated the flight trajectories for
Project Mercury, Apollo 11 and other space
missions. Dorothy taught herself programming
and was promoted to supervising roles in NASA.
Jackson gained her engineering degree and
became NASA’s first black female engineer.
6.
Image from lay@ng_kangn, Vimeo

8. Mark E. Dean
If you’ve ever used a personal computer in a
business setting, you can thank Dean for that.
Dean worked as a computer scientist/engineer for
IBM and lead the team that created the ISA bus – a
hardware interface for connecting devices to a PC
(think: printers and keyboards).
This invention eventually lead to personal
computers linking to business devices. He also
helped develop the first color computer monitor
and the world’s first gigahertz chip. Today, he’s a
computer science professor at the University of
Tennessee.
7.
- IBM Computer
Scientist/Engineer

9. Jan Ernst Matzeliger
Not everyone in the 1800s could afford shoes. That
all changed when this Dutch Suriname immigrant
came to Massachusetts. Working as an apprentice
in a shoe factory, Matzeliger invented an
automated shoemaking machine. The machine
boosted shoe production from 50 to 700 pairs each
day.
With more shoes in the market, shoe prices fell
within reach of the average American.
8.
- Shoe automation