Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Search this
Extent:
0.25 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Transcripts
Audiocassettes
Digital images
Cd-roms
Date:
2005 August 3
Summary:
Jose L. Hernandez-Rebollar was born in the state of Puebla in Mexico. He is the inventor of the AcceleGlove, a prototype device which can translate the alphabet and over 300 words into American Sign Language. The collection contains original and reference audio cassettes of Dr. Rebollar's presentation, "The Process of Invention: The AcceleGlove," a transcript of the presentation, photocopies of his power point presentation slides, and a CD-ROM containing digital images taken at the presentation.
Scope and Contents:
Collection documents Dr. Jose L. Hernandez-Rebollar's invention prototype of the AcceleGlove. In his power point presentation The Process of Invention: The AcceleGlove, Rebollar discusses his childhood in Mexico and his educational background, emphasizing his Ph.D. work on the AcceleGlove at The George Washington University. Dr. Rebollar describes his research and his attempt to solve communication and translation problems associated with turning American Sign Language into spoken words and text. Rebollar also discusses American Sign Language and its applications. A demonstration of the AcceleGlove is given. The presentation concludes with a question and answer period.
Series 1: Original Audio Cassettes, 2005, is one audio cassette recording of Dr. Rebollar's Innovative Lives Presentation on August 3, 2005. The recording is approximately 70 minutes.
Series 2: Reference Audio Cassettes, 2005, contains copies of Dr. Rebollar's Innovative Lives Presentation on August 3, 2005.
Series 3: Transcript of presentation, August 3, 2005
Series 4: Digital Images, 2005, consists of one CD-ROM containing 46 digital images (jpeg files) documenting Dr. Rebollar's Innovative Lives Presentation. The digital images were taken by Richard Straus of Smithsonian Photographic Services.
Series 5: Power Point Slides contains two photocopied sets of the twenty-one slides used during Dr. Rebollar's power point presentation The Process of Invention: The AcceleGlove.
Arrangement:
Collection is divided into five series.
Series 1: Original Audio Cassette, August 3, 2005
Series 2: Reference Audio Cassettes, 2005
Series 3: Transcript of Presentation, August 3, 2005
Series 4: Digital Images, 2005
Series 5: Power Point Slides, 2005
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Jose L. Hernandez-Rebollar was born in the state of Puebla in México. He completed his B.S. in electronics at Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in 1993 and received his masters in Electronics Engineering from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica (National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics) in 1997. In 1998, Dr. Rebollar obtained a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. at The George Washington University. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Science in Electrical Engineering in 2003. He majored in Signals and Systems with a minor in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Bioelectronics.
Dr. Rebollar's invention, an electronic glove, called the AcceleGlove, can turn American Sign Language (ASL) gestures into spoken words or text. The glove is placed on the hand and strapped to the arm, allowing sensors on the glove to generate signals from the movement, orientation, and positioning of the hand and the fingers in relation to the body. These signals are analyzed by a micro-controller to find the position of the fingers and hand trajectory. The AcceleGlove translates the alphabet and over 300 words in American Sign Language.
The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. The Center's mission is: to document, interpret, and disseminate information about invention and innovation; to encourage inventive creativity in young people; and to foster an appreciation for the central role invention and innovation play in the history of the United States. The Innovative Lives series brings together Museum visitors and American inventors to discuss inventing and the creative process and to experiment and play with hands-on activities related to each inventor's product. This collection was created by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
Provenance:
Transferred by Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, January 30, 2006.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
5.5 Cubic feet (17 boxes, 1 map folder, digital files)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1983-2010
bulk 1991-1994
Summary:
The collection documents the development of ROBODOC™, the first robot to perform surgery on a human in the United States through correspondence, memoranda, press clippings, press releases, engineering drawings, regulatory policies and procedures, photographs, and audiovisual materials.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the development of ROBODOC™, a robotic surgical system that would redefine precision joint replacement procedures. The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, press clippings, press releases, engineering drawings, regulatory policies and procedures, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the development of the ROBODOC™. The collection is strong in documentation about regulatory policies and procedures the company undertook for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into six series.
Series 1: Project History and Background Materials, 1985-2003
Series 2: Engineering Materials, 1989-2000, bulk 1991-1993
Series 3: User Guides, 1991-2001
Series 4: Food and Drug Administration, 1987-2001
Series 5: Press Clippings, 1983-2010
Series 6: Audiovisual Materials, 1988-2009
Historical:
ROBODOC™ was the first robot to perform surgery in the United States. It was developed in 1986 by IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, and researchers at the University of California, Davis. They formed a collaborative initiative to develop a surgical device for Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA). The team included William Bargar, M.D., Howard "Hap" Paul, D.V.M (1949- 1993), and engineers, Brent Mittelstadt and Peter Kazanides. See US Patent 5,769,092 for Computer-aided system for revision total hip replacement surgery and US Patent 5,806,518 for Method and system of positioning surgical robot, 1998. The original company, Integrated Surgical Systems (ISS) was incorporated in 1990.
The goal of ISS was to create a robotic surgical system that would redefine precision joint replacement procedures. Drilling into bone by hand is not always precise, and often requires glue to fill in empty spaces. Additionally there is a danger the bone will splinter. In this regard, ROBODOC is similar to computer-controlled machine tools. ROBODOC "mills" the bone or joint for accurate fitting similar to machine tools.
In May of 1990 the device was successfully tested on dogs. Since 1998 when it received 510 (K) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Total Hip Arthroplasty over 28,000 procedures have been performed worldwide.
ROBODOC™ was eventually sold in 2007 to Novatrix Biomedical, Inc. which formed Curexo Medical, Inc. to handle the acquisition of Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. (ISS). ISS became THINK Surgical, Inc. in 2014.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Odex I Walking Robot Collection (AC0203)
Massie/McLurkin Innovative Lives Presentation and Interviews (AC0603)
Computer oral History Collection (AC0196)
Gerber Scientific Instrument Company Records (AC0929)
Provenance:
Collection donated by Think Surgical, Inc. through Dr. Mun In-Ki, CEO and President, April 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Search this
Extent:
15.23 Cubic feet (34 boxes.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Correspondence
Reports
Date:
1970s - 2010s
Summary:
This collection consists of approximately 15.23 cubic feet of papers, photographs, certificates, and video/film, created or collected by Kathryn Sullivan, spanning her lifetime of achievement.
Scope and Contents:
Scope and Content Note:
The Kathryn D. Sullivan Papers (acc. no. 2019-0007) reflect Dr. Sullivan's broad, restless curiosity regarding oceanography, geology, engineering, astronomy, space exploration and education advocacy. Sullivan's great contributions as a scientist, educator, astronaut and explorer are quite evident in this collection.
For the most part, this collection encompasses Dr. Sullivan's years spent as a NASA astronaut, with the U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR), as well as her post-NASA career as a federal government administrator, educator, scientist and explorer; roughly, from the 1970s through the 2010s. There is some material however, that dates back prior to this time span. This collection is a mixture of the following materials: correspondence, memoranda, notes, reports technical manuals, flight logs, photographs, speeches, news releases, papers, books, brochures, pamphlets, journals, magazines, articles and day planners. Additionally, there are some materials stored in oversized containers that include newspapers or sections of newspapers, Dr. Sullivan's Ph.D. dissertation from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, certificates and awards, a photograph album, as well as matted photographs pertaining to her Space Shuttle flights (STS-41G, STS-31 and STS-45) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
Upon receiving the Kathryn D. Sullivan Papers, the processing archivist did discern some order to this collection. Some materials, such as photographs, reports and speeches, tended to be grouped together. Other materials were threaded throughout in a more random fashion. Furthermore, most of the archival items had been already placed in some sort of files or folders. The processing archivist did rehouse these materials utilizing archival-friendly file folders and legal-size document cases.
This collection is arranged into three series. The first series is composed of personal materials that include correspondence, photographs, postcards, business cards and transcripts. Each type of archival material is organized chronologically and then alphabetically. The second series consists of professional materials and is by far and away the largest segment of the Kathryn D. Sullivan Papers. This series is arranged as follows: Dr. Sullivan's correspondence, memoranda, notes, reports, manuals (mainly Space Shuttle program-related), flight logs, photographs, speeches, news releases, policy directives and educational course materials, papers, Congressional hearings and testimony, books, brochures, catalogs and pamphlets, magazines and journals, certificates, articles, and miscellaneous materials (such as agendas, programs, day planners and photographic slides). All the above material is arranged chronologically and then alphabetically. The third series is composed of oversize materials. This material consists of newspapers or sections of newspapers (mainly focused on the Space Shuttle Challenger accident of 1986), Dr. Sullivan's Ph.D. dissertation, a photograph album, awards and certificates, as well as matted photographs, largely pertaining to her three Space Shuttle flights and the Hubble Space telescope (HST).
Please note: the initials "KDS" refer to Kathryn D. Sullivan.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series. The first series is composed of personal materials that include correspondence, photographs, postcards, business cards and transcripts. Each type of archival material is organized chronologically and then alphabetically. The second series consists of professional materials and is by far and away the largest segment of the Kathryn D. Sullivan Papers. This series is arranged as follows: Dr. Sullivan's correspondence, memoranda, notes, reports, manuals (mainly Space Shuttle program-related), flight logs, photographs, speeches, news releases, policy directives and educational course materials, papers, Congressional hearings and testimony, books, brochures, catalogs and pamphlets, magazines and journals, certificates, articles, and miscellaneous materials (such as agendas, programs, day planners and photographic slides). All the above material is arranged chronologically and then alphabetically. The third series is composed of oversize materials. This material consists of newspapers or sections of newspapers (mainly focused on the Space Shuttle Challenger accident of 1986), Dr. Sullivan's Ph.D. dissertation, a photograph album, awards and certificates, as well as matted photographs, largely pertaining to her three Space Shuttle flights and the Hubble Space telescope (HST).
Biographical / Historical:
Kathryn D. Sullivan was born on October 3, 1951, in Paterson, New Jersey. Several years later, the Sullivan family relocated to California where her father proceeded to work in the aerospace field. After graduating from high school in 1969, Sullivan received a Bachelor of Science degree in earth sciences from the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1978, she earned her Ph.D. in geology from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. During her time at Dalhousie, Sullivan participated in several oceanographic expeditions that studied the floors of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
In 1977, Sullivan applied for a position as astronaut candidate for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Her application was successful and she was accepted as part of the first group of six women astronauts hired by the space agency. Training and evaluation commenced in 1978 and was completed the following year. Dr. Sullivan was now an official astronaut, qualified for selection on space flight crews. She would make her first flight aboard NASA's new fleet of Space Shuttles five years later. This flight, designated STS-41G (Space Transportation System), lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 5, 1984. While circling the Earth from the orbiter Challenger, Dr. Sullivan performed the first spacewalk or EVA (extra-vehicular activity) by an American woman. During her second shuttle flight, designated STS-31, she flew aboard the orbiter Discovery. Lifting off from KSC on April 24, 1990, she actively participated in deploying the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) into Earth orbit. Her third and final space flight occurred aboard Discovery once more, from March 24 to April 2, 1992. Dr. Sullivan served as Payload Commander on this mission, designated STS-45 - the first flight of Spacelab dedicated to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. In 1993, she retired from NASA but, not before logging a total of 532 hours in space.
Hand in hand with her NASA career, Dr. Sullivan also served her country with the U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR). In 1988, she became a direct commissioned officer with the rank of lieutenant commander. Two years later, Dr. Sullivan was given command of a specialized unit of oceanographers and meteorologists that was based at Naval Air Station Dallas. This facility provided support to the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Center on the island of Guam. By the time of her retirement from the USNR in 2006, she had attained the rank of captain.
Though retired from NASA, Dr. Sullivan has since maintained a very active life. Aside from her work as an USNR officer that continued into the first years of the 21st century, she also served as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ohio's Center of Science and Industry (COSI). Under her leadership, COSI enhanced its impact on science teaching in the classroom, as well as its national reputation as an innovator of hands-on, inquiry-based science learning resources. Additionally, from 2006-2011, she acted as Director for Ohio State University's Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy while continuing with COSI as a volunteer science advisor.
Two decades after leaving NASA, Dr. Sullivan reentered public service within the federal government. In 2011, the Obama administration nominated, and the U.S. Senate confirmed, her as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction and Deputy Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Moreover, starting in early 2013, she served as acting NOAA Administrator. The following year, she was confirmed by the Senate as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and simultaneously, as NOAA Administrator. She remained in these positions until early 2017.
Upon her retirement from government service, Dr. Sullivan was selected for the 2017 Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History Fellowship, at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum (NASM). During her time with the museum as a Fellow, she focused her research energies on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Based on this research, Dr. Sullivan wrote her book, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention, which was released in 2019.
Dr. Sullivan's life as an explorer, researcher, scientist and public servant continued into the early 2020s. In 2020, she ventured aboard a specially equipped submarine to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first woman to reach the deepest known point of all of Earth's oceans, as well as the first person to travel to both the Challenger Deep and aboard the shuttle Challenger (and later, Discovery) into outer space. Also, late that year, Dr. Sullivan was named a volunteer member of President-Elect Biden's presidential transition Agency Review team to help facilitate transition efforts connected to the Commerce Department. In 2021, President Biden appointed her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
During her decades in public life, Dr. Sullivan has had many honors bestowed upon her and earned numerous awards – too numerous to list all of them here. The following is merely a sample: NASA Space Flight Medal (1984 and 1990), the National Air and Space Museum Trophy, Smithsonian Institution (1985), NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1988 and 1991), NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership ((1992), Ohio Veteran's Hall of Fame (2001), Ohio Women's Hall of Fame (2002), inductee into the Astronaut Hall of Fame (2004) and the Aviation Week & Space Technology Aerospace Legend Award (2005). Additionally, she has received honorary degrees from multiple colleges, including ones from Brown University and Willamette University.
Provenance:
Kathryn D. Sullivan, Gift, 2018, NASM.2019.0007
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Life and dreams contemporary Chinese photography and media art edited by Christopher Phillips and Wu Hung ; featuring works by Ai Weiwei [and forty-three others] ; essays by Christopher Phillips [and eight others] ; conversations by Christopher Phillips [and three others]
Contributor:
Phillips, Christopher (Christopher Joel) 1950- Search this
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
William Jones World War II Scrapbook, NASM.2006.0067, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection documents the development and marketing of the Chef's Choice brand of knife sharpeners.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the development, marketing, and sales of the Chef's Choice brand of knife sharpeners to a home-based consumer market. Materials include both American and foreign print advertisements, press releases, press kits, point-of-purchase displays, magazine articles, catalogs, photographs, trade literature, audiovisual materials including VHS recordings of demonstrations, design drawings, business records, and scrapbooks. Of interest is the materials relating to chefs and food service industry professionals and EdgeCraft Corporation's evolution from serving the home cook to manufacturing products for commercial use. The collection is arranged in two series: Series 1, Company Records, 1984-1993, undated and Series 2, Product Information, 1984-2016, undated.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1, Company Records, 1984-1993, undated
Series 2, Product Materials, 1984-2016, undated
Biographical / Historical:
EdgeCraft Corporation, founded by Daniel Denwood Friel (1920-2012), introduced the Chef's Choice brand to the consumer market in 1984. Chef's Choice brand's first product was the electric knife sharpener which debuted in 1985. The electric knife sharpener was the invention of Friel, a retired chemical engineer. Born to Samuel Edward Whiting Friel and Martha Reynolds Friel in Queenstown, Queen Anne's, Maryland, Friel received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1942. He began his career on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago in 1943. Mr. Friel's career path continued with thirty-nine years of experience as a chemical engineer with the DuPont Company. His retirement from DuPont was short lived as he turned his attention to the development of his new company, EdgeCraft Corporation, and an ever-increasing line of products. EdgeCraft Corporation, located in Avondale, Pennsylvania, continues to manufacture a large selection of electric and manual knife sharpeners, kettles, electric food slicers, waffle makers, electric grills, grinders, and hot beverage makers.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Julia Child Award Winners Collection NMAH.AC.01371
Collection donated by the Edgecraft Corporation, 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
