Incredible Engineering Feats That Pioneered Today’s Modern Automotive Industry to Celebrate World Engineering Day

Today is world engineering day, and we’re taking a look at some of the most amazing feats in engineering that have pioneered huge advancements in the automotive industry. Without these amazing inventors and thoughtful creative minds, we would not have such spectacular, convenient, and comfortable transportation as we do today. Of course, the innovation never stops, as each year automotive engineers and designers work harder than ever before to improve the safety, comfort, and features of modern day vehicles. Let’s explore some of the innovations of the past that paved the way for this incredible present and future for cars.

The Steam Engine was a discovery that was pioneered by several inventors: Thomas Savery in 1698 with the first application of steam power; the first successful steam engine involving a piston developed by Thomas Newcomen in the 1710s; James Watt who added a condensation chamber and insulator for the main cylinder pioneered between 1763 and 1776. Later, Richard Trevithick developed the use of high-pressure steam in the early 1800s which was used to create a mobile steam engine which began the revolution towards steam-powered vehicles.

The Internal Combustion Engine was developed by several men including Samuel Brown in 1823, Father Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci in 1853, Niklaus Otto in the 1860s and 1870s with spark plugs, and finally Rudolf Diesel improved upon the technology in the 1890s with high compression fuel combustion.

The pneumatic tire is a rubber tire filled with compressed air, similar to modern day car and truck tires; the design is engineered to provide shock absorption and give drivers and passengers a smoother ride.  Inventor John Dunlap of Scotland created the pneumatic tire in 1888 and was awarded the US patent in 1890.  He along with Irish industrialist W.H. DuCros formed the Dunlop Rubber Company, setting the standard for bicycle tires and later automobiles.

The first electric ignition and starter system for vehicles was invented by Charles Franklin Kettering in the early 1900s; along with businessman Edward A. Deeds, the two formed a company called Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company aka Delco, and invented several other technologies. Later, in 1916, he sold his company to General Motors.

Flashing Turn Signals were pioneered by an unexpected individual, the “first ever movie actress”: Florence Lawrence, daughter of vaudeville actress and inventor Charlotte Bridgwood.  Lawrence became a very successful actress and used her hard-earned salary to purchase her very own car, a very luxurious purchase for the times.  Not only did she love driving, but she loved learning about the engineering and mechanics behind their functionality!  In 1914, Lawrence developed a mechanical signaling arm that raised flags on the car’s rear bumper to signal that the vehicle would be turning right or left.  In 1929, Oscar J Simler invented the electrical flashing turn signal, first produced by Buick on their vehicles in 1938-1939 era.

The anti-lock braking system’s early incarnation was created by J.E. Francis in 1908 with his ingenious idea for Slip Prevention Regulator for Rail Vehicles. Later, French automotive pioneer Gabriel Voisin began to experiment with systems to modulate the hydraulic braking pressure of aircraft brakes in 1920.  But the first incarnation of ABS as we know it today in cars was officially patented by German engineer Karl Wassel in 1928, followed by Robert Bosch in 1936, although neither inventor was able to produce a working sample. By the 1950s, the Dunlop Maxaret anti-ski system had come into play in the UK’s Aviation industry. Shortly after that in the early 1960s, the first fully-electronic ABS system was developed for the Concorde Aircraft. Mario Palazetti, however, is credited with the first use of the modern ABS system in vehicles, formerly known as Antiskid in 1971, and the patent was later sold to Bosch who changed the name to ABS.

The Automatic Transmission was invented by Alfred Horner Munro, a Canadian Steam Engineer. He designed the first automatic transmission in 1921, and patented the transmission 2 years later in 1923.  It had 4 forward gears and no parking or reverse, and employed air pressure instead of hydraulic fluids.  This iteration of the transmission was used by General Motors in the Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac from 1937-1938!  Brazilian engineers Fernando Lehly Lemos and Jose Braze Araripe created the first hydraulic transmission in 1923, but it wasn’t mass-produced until 1940.

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