1. Edison/Lieb, 1929

John Lieb, Class of 1880, hired by Thomas Edison to work with Edison Illuminating Company, was chief construction engineer for the Pearl Street Station in Manhattan, the country’s first central power station. [See Lieb at far left, Edison second from right.]

2. Stopwatch, Clipboard

Frederick W. Taylor, Class of 1883, created scientific management — the application of engineering concepts of standardization and efficiency to the workplace. Taylor’s stopwatch — used to time workers — clipboard and a time study of a factory construction project are circa 1910.

3. Chart

Henry L. Gantt, Class of 1884, created the Gantt Chart, a project management tool that visualizes project schedules and is still used today. First developed in 1903, this chart appears in his book, Work, Wages and Profits: Their Influence on the Cost of Living (1910).

4. Lab Photo, 1969

Professor Winston Bostick, who taught physics from 1956 to 1981, was internationally known for his work in plasma and cosmic-ray physics. He developed a “plasma gun” that shot bursts of atomic particles at high speeds through a magnetic field for research purposes. He also protested the Vietnam War.

5. ID, Patent

Frederick Llewellyn, Class of 1922, spent 38 years at Bell Labs, held 39 patents in the field of electronics and helped expand radio technology and long-wave transatlantic operations. He rose to assistant to the president, Marvin Kelly. His collection includes a scrapbook with his Bell Labs IDs and technical papers.

6. Graduation, 1949

Beatrice Hicks M.S. ’49 — co-founder/first president of the Society of Women Engineers — designed and patented a gas density switch, a key component in regulating artificial atmospheres that was used by NASA during Project Apollo’s moon missions. Hicks is seen front row, far left.

– Stevens Archives & Special Collections

Photo: Michael Marquand
Historic Items: Archives & Special Collections, Samuel C. Williams Library