Otis Boykin
Reference; Schomburg Center
Educated at Fisk University and Illinois Institute of Technology, Boykin began his career as a laboratory assistant and quickly showed his brilliance as an innovator. Among the devices he invented were various resistors used in guided missiles, computers, radios, and televisions; a burglar-proof cash register; a chemical air filter; and a control unit for cardiac pacemakers. From 1964 until his death , Boykin worked as a consultant to a number of American and European firms.
http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/otis-boykin-talented-electronic-inventor
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/inventors/boykin.htm
Oswald. S William
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Personal Information
Born Oswald S. Williams on September 2, 1921, in Washington, DC; son of Oswald S. (a postal worker) and Marie (Madden) Williams; married Doris Reid Williams, 1943; children: Bruce, Gregory (died 1982), and Meredith.
Education: New York University, B.S., 1943, M.S., 1947; St. John’s University, M.B.A., 1981.
Memberships: former member, chair, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Career
Republic Aviation, design engineer, 1942, steadily promoted to senior aerodynamicist, 1943-46; Babcock and Wilcox, design draftsman, c. 1947-48; U.S. Navy Material Catalog Office, technical writer, c. 1948-50; Greer Hydraulics, Inc., design group project leader, c. 1950-56; Thiokol Chemical Corporation, Reaction Motors Division, small rocket engine designer, 1956-61; Grumman Aerospace Corporation, propulsion engineer, 1961-c. 1973; Grumman International, marketing department, 1973, vice president, 1974. St. John’s University, marketing professor, c. 1980s.
Life’s Work
Inventor and engineer O. S. Williams was the second African American to receive a degree in aeronautical engineering and the first to be hired as a design engineer by Republic Aviation–one of the leaders of the industry in the 1940s. At a time when blacks were discouraged from the engineering field, Williams blazed many trails. His accomplishments over the years included heading the team that originated the first experimental airborne radio beacon for tracking crashed aircraft and managing the development of the control rocket systems for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo missions, including the fateful thirteenth one in 1970. William’s rockets are credited with saving the lives of the Apollo 13 astronauts.
Read more on O.S Williams: http://www.answers.com/topic/o-s-williams#ixzz1kUNQp0OT http://www.aaregistry.org/?q=historic_events/view/ozzie-williams-dc-engineer
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Aerospace_engineering.aspx
