Naming just 10 of the countless engineers that have had enormous impacts on the world as we know it can be quite difficult. Over the last 100-200 years especially, there have been major advances in technology in all engineering disciplines.
Think about it, from the car you drive to work, to the light bulbs and electricity in your house, even to the computer that this is being typed onto, these have all been invented by the geniuses that have come before us. I know for sure that our lives would be quite different if just one of these engineers had not existed, or pursued their inventions, imagine your life without electricity!
As mentioned previously there will be a plethora of accomplished and famous engineers that will be left out of the “Top 10”, unfortunately one would have to write a book to include them all! Let’s get into the list, in (an attempt at) chronological order:
1. Archimedes
Some of Archimedes’ greatest contributions include the invention of the “center of gravity” concept, the invention of the science of mechanics and the development of levers and pulleys, which allowed man to move heavy objects with a relatively small force.
2. James Watt
This creation is also credited with starting the Industrial Revolution, as it was an engine that required 80% less fuel than its predecessors. James Watt also introduced the word “horsepower”, discovered the concept of latent heat and invented the world’s first copying machine.
3. George Stephenson
His innovation allowed railways to spread out over England, Europe and even North America, and his standard “Stephenson railway gauge” is still used around the world to this day.
4. Charles Babbage
Babbage also contributed to other fields as well, assisting in establishing the English postal system, compiling the first reliable actuarial tables and inventing a certain type of speedometer.
5. Nicolaus Otto
Born in 1832, he was a German engineer that developed the four-stroke internal combustion engine, which means it has four strokes of its piston for each ignition. This was an immediate success due to its efficiency and reliability, and more than 30,000 were made in the next 10 years. The four stroke cycle is commonly known as the Otto cycle, an ode to its creator.
6. Alexander Graham Bell
He also invented some other notable devices including: the metal detector, graphophone (for recording and playing back sound) and the audiometer (for detecting hearing problems). Improving education for the deaf was also a personal project of his.
7. Thomas Edison
His most famous invention is the creation of the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb, which provided affordable lighting for the masses. Other notable inventions from Thomas Edison was the development of the motion picture camera and the alkaline storage battery.
8. Nikola Tesla
His discovery of the rotating magnetic field, which is the basis of nearly all alternating current machinery was revolutionary, along with the development of a three-phase system of electrical power delivery.
He also invented the Tesla coil, which produced high voltage, low-current, high frequency AC electricity, which is the basis of wireless electricity.
9. Fazlur Rahman Khan
While this name might not be immediately familiar to everyone, his legacy definitely will be. Fazlur Rahman Khan was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect born in 1929, who is known as the father of the modern skyscraper or more specifically, the father of tubular designs.
His many projects still stand as some of the tallest buildings in the world, including the John Hancock Center, Chicago and Willis Tower, also in Chicago. The Willis Tower was the first skyscraper in the world to feature Khan’s bundled tube structural system, which minimized the amount of steel needed to build skyscrapers and allowed for more freedom for the interior designers.
10. Steve Wozniak
Wozniak single-handedly developed the Apple I & II, with the Apple II becoming the first highly successful mass produced personal computer. He oversaw the development of all Apple computers until he left the company in 1985. He then pursued other avenues, creating the first programmable universal remote control, and starting multiple businesses to further work in the GPS and educational industries, among others.
Honorable Mentions
So there is our list of the 10 engineers who made such a big contribution to the engineering field, they changed the world for the better and shaped the lives that we live today. However, there are a couple of engineers who we would like to mention as we feel that they have made quite a significant impact and will continue to make an impact into the future.
Elon Musk
His ambitious projects have been widely recognised, with his development of an efficient affordable electric car that can be used every day with Tesla Motors, and more recently successfully launching and landing a space rocket with his company SpaceX.
He is also branching out into artificial intelligence with his companies Neuralink and OpenAI, which could change the artificial intelligence field for the future.
Jeff Bezos
Amazon provides a number of products and services, including cloud computing, AI and video and audio streaming. It is the world’s largest sales company, and especially in recent years, is changing the way the world shops for goods and services.
He also founded Blue Origin, an aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company, with plans to carry out commercial space flight carrying paying customers.
These are two of the men that are having a huge impact on how our modern world works, and will continue to do so for the coming years. We have included ancient engineers to the most modern engineers still alive today, have we left someone out? Would you agree that these are the most influential famous engineers ever to live? Leave us know with a comment down below!