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Invention Stories

Matt Capozzi and Nathan Connolly: Accessible Snowboard Inventors

While in college, these inventors designed a snowboard that works for people who can't use their legs.

Invention Stories

Mike Augspurger: Handcycle Inventor

Mike Augspurger—a mountain biker and bicycle builder—created an innovative all-terrain handcycle for wheelchair athletes.

Beyond Words

Podcast: Patti McGee and Di Dootson Rose, Pioneering Skateboarders

Patti McGee and Di Dootson Rose talk about their lives as women skateboarders and offer some insight on skateboarding's place in American culture.

Invention Stories

Faster, Higher, Stronger: Science and Engineering Behind the Olympic Winter Games

You tune into the Olympics to watch feats of athleticism, strength, grace, and endurance. But don't forget about the feats of technology!

Beyond Words

Podcast: Robin Logan and Cindy Whitehead, Pioneering Skateboarders

Robin Logan and Cindy Whitehead talk about their lives as two of the first professional women skateboarders and offer some insight on skateboarding’s place in American culture.

Invention Stories

Joining the Boys Club: Cindy Whitehead and Skateboarding

Cindy Whitehead is one of the only women ever to be featured riding vert in the centerfold of a skateboarding magazine.

Invention Stories

Set Em’ Up! Knock Em’ Down! Bowling’s Automated Pin Technology

Automatic pin setting technology was the first of many advances that would transform the game of bowling.

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.

Beyond Words

Podcast: Jim Colegrove Develops Carbon Fiber Bicycle Frames

Trek Bicycle senior composites manufacturing engineer Jim Colegrove describes the evolution of carbon fiber frames at Trek.

Invention Stories

A Unique Way to See the World: Skateboarders and Inventors

Highly creative and innovative people seem to share a common characteristic of being able to engage their world—not for what it is, but for what it has the potential to be. While meeting with members of the skate community, I learned about the unique way in which they view the world.

Invention Stories

Running: A High Tech Sport

As a runner but also someone who’s interested in innovation, I started thinking more about the gear I use, and how invention and innovation have impacted the sport of running.

Beyond Words

Video Podcast: Rodney Mullen Skates through the Invention Process

Skateboarding legend Rodney Mullen talks about the intersection of skateboarding and invention.

Beyond Words

Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen, Skateboard Legends…and Inventors?

Rodney Mullen, the unquestioned leader and pioneer of street skating, spoke to us about the role of invention and innovation in American life—while skating on our roof.

Invention Stories

Football Helmet Technology

As the parent of a high school football player who suffered a minor concussion two years ago and a huge football fan, it’s both reassuring and fascinating to observe the advancements being made in helmet technology.

Invention Stories

Dude! Tony Hawk Skates into History

Tony Hawk's early career and the evolution of skate culture in the 1980s can be read through the technology and the stickers on the skateboard that he donated to the Museum.

Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: Artificial Parts: Van Phillips

How a tragic accident led to breakthroughs in prosthetic science.

Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: Mike Augspurger, Titanium Transformed

Mike Augspurger is an expert cyclist, a skilled machinist, and a designer and builder of bicycles. Augspurger, founder of One-Off Titanium, Inc., is a specialist in custom and unusual titanium frame bicycles, including the first all-terrain handcycle designed for wheelchair athletes.

Invention Stories

Innovative Lives: Windsurfing Wonder Newman Darby

Meet the inventor of the sailboard, also known as a windsurfer. "You can feel the power of the wind and by feeling it, you can control it. It's the simplest form of sailing in the world. And now millions of people can do it."