elijah mccoy and lloyd war :: essays research papers

Idols, everyone needs them or at least just someone to look up to and admire. People need something to look forward to, aspire towards some kind of goal – basically ambition. For Minorities, specifically African Americans in engineering, role models in the engineering field aren’t glorified. It is not because people feel they are unimportant it is because they just haven’t been informed. For example many people know the clichà © The Real McCoy but they don’t know where it comes from; or why it has the connotations it does. Truth is McCoy was an African American mechanical engineer whose parents were runaway slaves in the early 20th century. It almost sounds like an oxymoron, a black engineer at a time when blacks weren’t even allowed to go to certain schools or sit at certain bars. However we still use that famous coined phrase and don’t realize the significance involved in its origins. Present day role models are also important, our histor y is one thing, but it is more conceivable when it can be seen in real life. Conceivable meaning easier to understand and recognize the potential opportunities this individual created. Lloyd Ward only the second African American to become a CEO of a major company. The thing about Ward is his willingness to succeed and ability to do so in untraditional fashion. Ward is also a mechanical engineer whose background is almost as unbelievable as his rise to the top. This report is about two of the greatest men who have ever lived; their accomplishments should be viewed as goals that we all can value and maybe one day copy. First a historical look at one of the most prolific and ingenious engineers of all time – who never stopped working and fulfilling his dreams. Elijah McCoy (1844-1929) was an American inventor born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, to parents who had escaped from slavery in Kentucky in 1837. McCoy was best known for his inventions of devices used to lubricate heavy machinery automatically. McCoy went to Edinburgh, Scotland, at age 15 and studied mechanical engineering for five years. When he came home he became a railroad fireman on the Michigan State Railroad. Back then steam locomotives had to stop at intervals so that the fireman could oil their pistons, levers, and connecting pins. About 1870, while living in the town of Ypsilanti, Michigan, McCoy began to experiment with automatic lubricators for steam engines.