I wound up getting offered a job at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory where I invented a power supply mechanism for the Galileo space craft which was in orbit around Jupiter until 2003. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
I received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, then graduated with a masters in nuclear engineering. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
Nobody’s going to step in and dump a lot of money and make it easy. Unless you have a lot of money, you have to pay your dues and make a personal sacrifice. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
In 1968 when I was in high school I built a four-foot-tall remote control robot with pneumatic cylinders that operated his hands. My robot won first place at a science competition at the University of Alabama where my high school was the only African-American school represented. That was a huge moral victory. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
I would say that engineering has been a very positive experience overall, but usually coming into the situation it would be one of being underestimated. People would actually have low expectations. But I would take advantage of it quite honestly, because I would take my time to underestimate the situation. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
As an inventor, it’s a rite of passage to have an engine. I’d like to have my own engine someday. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
I consider myself a general practitioner. I do electronic things. I do toys and water things, mechanical stuff. I’m very, very flexible. Lonnie Johnson Read Quote
