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Found 24 Stories
Andy Granatelli and his brother Vincent standing behind two race cars
Blog

The Supercharged, Super Fast, Novi Engine

Race car owner and driver, innovator, and entrepreneur Andy Granatelli was as supercharged as the Novi itself.

Don Featherstone posing with plastic pink flamingos on a lawn
Blog

The Making of the Iconic Plastic Pink Lawn Flamingo

A look at the ersatz bird that became a barometer of taste.

Cartoon-style drawing of a Jeep with legs, arms, eyes, and a mouth
Blog

Illustrating Invention

Illustrator Boris Artzybasheff brought machines to life.

Patent drawings of a pointe shoe from the side and front.
Blog

A Better Pointe Shoe Is Sorely Needed

Ballet is an art form steeped in tradition, but pointe shoes need not be out of step with the times.

Detail of Figure 1, US Patent 1,242,872, showing entrance signage
Blog

One-Way Supermarket Aisles

The return of an invention from the 1910s.

A black-and-white icon of a Mac Classic computer with a smiling face on the screen.
Blog

Susan Kare, Iconic Designer

Susan Kare designed the distinctive icons, typefaces, and other graphic elements that gave the Apple Macintosh its characteristic—and widely emulated—look and feel.

Detail of a photo of Elaine Ostroff, on left, with two other women, looking at a model of a play space. The words Play Room are on the door behind Ostroff.
Blog

Creating and Shaping Learning Environments

“It can happen anywhere—a learning environment can happen anywhere.” (Elaine Ostroff, Wheaton College interview, undated)

Screen shot of CNC software
Blog

Designing with a New Tool

Spark!Lab's "Thinking Spot" inspired me to put our new CNC router to a creative yet practical test.

Yellow plastic hard hat with solar-powered propeller on top, souvenir from, Knoxville World’s Fair, 1982
Invention Stories

Inventive Minds: Inventing Green

Inventive Minds: Inventing Green features the stories of historic and contemporary inventors whose work on socially-responsible technologies creates profound change for the common good.

Invention Stories

Is the Internet of Things Making the Internet Run Dry?

Egg cartons, streetlights, LED light-bulbs, and trash dumpsters all connect to the Internet.

Spark!Lab

Reinventing the Shopping Cart

The first shopping cart was patented in 1940 and was reinvented in 1946. We are challenging our young inventors in Spark!Lab to update it for the 21st century.

Encouraging Innovative Thinking

Stand Up for Innovation!

While perhaps not for everyone, I certainly feel more alert, efficient, and innovative since adopting a standing desk.

A crutch made up of various 3D printed pieces
Spark!Lab

Has 3D Printing Become a Crutch?

My go-to tool in designing and maintaining activities for Spark!Lab is a 3D printer. I've designed and printed over 100 different parts. Is 3D printing a crutch?

Invention Stories

Reinventing the Chair: A Pencil Sketch in Three Dimensions

The humble chair has long been the subject of invention and reinvention. From reclining and office chairs to today's ever-shrinking airline seats, designers have wrestled with ways to make it more appealing to the eye, more compact, more ergonomic, but, regrettably, hardly more comfortable.

Invention Stories

Alexander Calder's "Gwenfritz": Rededicating a Modernist Icon

On Halloween day, a gorgeous 40-foot-tall black specter mysteriously rematerialized at its old haunts on the west lawn of the National Museum of American History.

Entrance to Trek headquarters
Places of Invention

Inspiring Bicycle Innovation

Trek has created a bicycle-filled environment where employees always have bicycles on their minds and within sight. It begins even before arriving at work.

Invention Stories

The Colorful, Kinetic World of Charles and Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames and their associates brought color, motion, and life to Smithsonian exhibition halls, and helped museums in general become modern educational organizations.

Regina Lee Blaszczyk speaks at a program about color and fashion design.
Beyond Words

Podcast: Regina Lee Blaszczyk and the Color Revolution

Regina Blaszczyk traces the effects of inventions in colors on American businesses and consumer goods from cars and clothes to butcher shops.

Bess Williamson speaks at the 2010 symposium, Food for Tomorrow
Beyond Words

Podcast: Bess Williamson Traces Universal Design

Historian Bess Williamson describes innovative, accessible design approaches to kitchens and cooking.

Inventor Saul Griffith
Beyond Words

Podcast: Saul Griffith and the Runaway Train of Invention

Saul Griffith, an independent inventor and 2007 MacArthur Fellow, mixes working on inventions ranging from alternative energy sources to low-cost eyeglasses with inspiring young engineers and a bit of kite-surfing.

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