Harry T. Roman's Blog, page 11

Thomas Edison – Citizen of the World

During his life, Thomas Edison had the most recognizable face in the world when newspapers and magazines were the chief forms of mass communication. He was sought after for interviews, quotes or news stories about his latest inventions. Even today, his famous quotes are still requested by folks wanting to know more about the great inventor. Consider this quote…

“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.”

In light of what is happening in the worldwide application of solar technology today, it is indeed sobering to realize he made this quote way back in 1910…..almost 110 years ago!

There are museums and memorials to Mr. Edison around the world. In Kyoto, Japan there is a beautiful stone memorial to electric lighting, celebrating how Kyoto was the source of bamboo used in early Edison light bulb filaments.

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Edison Memorial in Kyoto Japan

Kokichi Mikimoto, inventor of cultured pearls, was a big fan of Edison. He met the great American inventor in 1927, whereupon Mr. Edison praised the quality and beauty of Mikimoto pearls. Today, these pearls are a worldwide sensation. In Japan, Edison is ranked number three when Japanese citizens are asked to identify popular historical figures. In China, Thomas Edison is often ranked first in surveys as to who is the best known American personality.

Edison’s achievements and technology were often featured at various national and international demonstrations and expositions. One especially noteworthy one was the Paris Exposition of 1889 which featured Edison electrical equipment. While here, Edison and his lovely wife Mina took in the sights, with Edison visiting the Eiffel Tower with the designer George Eiffel.

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Thomas Edison Paris Exposition Display in 1889

Many countries celebrate Mr. Edison’s legacy of achievement by teaching their students about him; sometimes even more intensely than in American schools. Every year, the legendary Edison Labs in West Orange hosts visitors from around the world who come to learn about their favorite inventor. In the last 10 years, visitors from Holland, England, Germany, Russia, Australia, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia have come to see his West Orange labs.

Many professional organizations have named science, technology, invention and achievement awards after the great inventor.

Thomas Edison said, “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Style Creativity

Most folks associate the word creativity with Thomas Edison; and the world’s greatest inventor certainly went out of his way to keep his product development teams in a creative fervor. Consider…whenever he appointed a team to address a new challenge…..he urged them to strive to create a minor invention every ten days and a major one every six months. How is that for a stretch goal, as we say today in the business world!

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Part of the large storeroom at West Orange

In Edison’s famed heavy machine shop, old Tom kept plenty of materials and tools on hand so creative ideas and experiments did not have to grow cold waiting on materials to be purchased. Just get yourself down to the storeroom and requisition what was needed and it would be charged back to your project. Edison always quipped he had every conceivable material on hand from the hide of an elephant to the eyeballs of a U.S. senator! He even had human hair available. His goal was to keep those ideas flowing and ready to be tried out quickly in prototype form—actually what we call maker labs today.

The famed inventor also understood the value of humor. If you worked for old Tom, sooner or later you were going to be the butt of a practical joke; and the old man was fair game too…often giving as good as he got. In fact, at his previous Menlo Park labs, there was an old pipe organ and plenty of cigars in the labs that were unleashed during midnight dinner fests—with sing-a-longs used to lift spirits and get minds well-oiled for the wee hours stretch of work. By the way, another very creative inventor did much the same thing with practical joking and such around his labs….Walt Disney.

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Edison R&D employees outside the electrical / physics shop at West Orange

“To have a great idea, have a lot of them.”

Too often today, inventors and creative R&D minds in too many companies are excoriated for failing. Edison knew the value of failure was three-fold:

It ultimately produced a better product
Could produce a serendipitous surprise
Or maybe lead to a whole new line of new products.

Lab legends tell us he tried 3,000 experiments before he got his reliable light bulb filament; and 10,000 experiments to make his nickel-iron storage batteries perform correctly. Talented teams not afraid to try something new, because they might fail, are going to be mighty creative indeed.

Let’s not forget the value of Edison’s massive corporate library, right there in his incredible main office. There was a treasure house of technical materials that inventive teams could access to see what others around the world were doing in areas of interest. It was a kind of very slow worldwide web of today, but an essential aspect of designing and developing new products.

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The great Edison library/office—with his desk shown at right

Surely Edison should be remembered and revered for his inventions, but also for his ground-breaking work as an R&D leader and very effective project manager.

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Fire-1914

Date: December 9, 1914

Place: Edison West Orange Labs [NJ]

Time: 5:15 p.m.

Action: Large explosion in Building 41, film inspection area.

The great fire of 1914 was triggered by highly combustible nitrate film exploding. Nitrate film at that time was composed of nitrocellulose, also known as gun cotton, a major ingredient of naval munitions…and known to be highly combustible if in an unstable state.

By 6:20, six other buildings were afire; by 7:40 another six buildings were also engaged-for a total of 13 active building fires. This level of activity quickly overpowered the 72 man Edison employee fire department and several other large neighboring city departments. At about 9:30 powerful explosions from stores of volatile chemicals inside the buildings rocketed flames 100 feet aloft, causing secondary fires as far away as 5 blocks. During the night as many as 10,000 people gathered to see the “barn-burner.”

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An eerie night glow as fire guts a large factory building

Many employees scurried about to save precious artifacts in the famous R&D labs and Edison’s office/library from flames that were perhaps a few hundred feet away. Mrs. Edison was among those helping to save her husband’s legacy.

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In the heart of the fire…notice in foreground badly twisted steel support columns

According to a 1961 Reader’s Digest article by Edison’s son Charles, Edison calmly walked over to him as he watched the fire destroy his dad’s work. In a childlike voice, Edison told his 24-year-old son, “Go get your mother and all her friends. They’ll never see a fire like this again.” When Charles objected, Edison said, “It’s all right. We’ve just got rid of a lot of rubbish.” Later, at the scene of the blaze, Edison was quoted in The New York Times as saying, “Although I am over 67 years old, I’ll start all over again tomorrow.” He told the reporter that he was exhausted from remaining at the scene until the chaos was under control, but he stuck to his word and immediately began rebuilding the next morning without firing any of his employees. [Credit to: “Thomas Edison’s Reaction To His Factory Burning Down Shows Why He Was So Successful”; Richard Feloni [May 9, 2014]]

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This building….a total loss!

The fire cost him nearly $1 million, with only about one-third of that covered by insurance. Good friend Henry Ford loaned Tom $750,000 to help him get back on his feet. Words of encouragement and sympathy poured in, especially from President Woodrow Wilson and George Eastman. Some beautiful words from Nikola Tesla—

“As one of the millions of your admirers, I send you my sympathy. It is not only a personal and national loss, but a world loss, for you have been one of its greatest benefactors.”

[So much for the trumped up enmity between these two great men]

While 1500 men were engaged to clean up the damage, Edison was true to his “I shall return spirit”. In a couple of days his employees were in nearby temporary facilities; and by New Year’s Day, just three weeks hence, his factory buildings were partially restored with his people hard at work. Only one employee had died in the horrific fire.

In 1915, Thomas Edison Industries chalked up $10 million in revenue. Way to recover Tom!

[Credit also to Bruce Spadaccini, former Museum Technician for his two articles about the fire, information from which was included here.]

Thomas Edison said, “The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison – Pitch Contest Winners

To a festive crowd of parents, students, teachers and invited guests, the winners of the 8th annual Thomas Edison Invention Challenge were announced and celebrated at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park [“Edison Park”]. The contest celebrated inventors from across the country.

Twenty-eight (28) teams across 6 states competed to make it to Edison Park for a top honors, run-off pitch contest. Six (6) finalist teams, three in the middle school and three in the high school categories went head to head. Teams “pitched” their invention, in person, before a 3 judge panel.

Here is a summary of the awards in both the middle school and high school award categories.

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Elementary/Middle School Category

 

1st Place: The Village School, Houston, TX (SKYPED-in for Pitch Competition)

BIOQUATTUOR – “A Model of an Insulin Delivery Robot”

The Insulin Bot will help give a person with diabetes the correct dosage of insulin that they need, allowing them to handle the healthy diet and exercise. The Insulin Bot turns sweat into energy which is then used to put insulin directly into the bloodstream and test glucose levels. Unlike traditional insulin pumps, the Insulin Bot is inexpensive, not dangerous to the human body, saves time and is not bulky.

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Team Members: Ava Greer, Sophie Onuki, Amber Zou, Taylor Zhang

2nd Place: Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, Livingston, NJ

CREATIVE CAPS – “Wind Powered Water Well & Water Filtration”

This team created a wind-powered well that takes the water and filters it so it lessens the amount of manual labor required to get water in third world countries. Once the water is filtered with this product, a solar powered buzzer goes off to let the user know that filtering is complete and the water is ready to drink or use. The wind turbine placed in the well provides an easy way to lift the bucket.

Team Members: Miriam Bash, Jack Helprin, Hannah Koppel, Nathaniel Savitz

3rd Place: Athens Middle School, Coxsackie, NY

The Fab 4 – “A Water Runoff Turbine”

This team’s invention, The Runoff Repeller, separates contaminated storm water runoff from the sanitized water to help our rivers and oceans in order to clean them. Chemicals and toxic sprays from fertilized crops can be swept away by storms and brought into bodies of water right near our homes. The Repeller ensures that rocks and chunks of dirt/garbage are caught and do not enter the water supply.

Team Members: Leslie Hinrichsen, Hannah Osborn, Andrew Sage, Alex Slater

High School Category

 

1st Place: Seton Hall Prep, West Orange, NJ

SHPREME – “Bicycle Mounted Charging System”

This team’s invention looks to solve the issue of bike riders’ phones running out of battery by using a source of energy that does not harm the environment. This source would be the man-powered energy generated by the rotations of the rear tire. The rear tire rotates a 3D-printed gear which spins a separate connected gear which rotates the shaft of a generator. The rotation of the generator shaft creates an electrical current that flows from the generator into a power bank which then charges the phone via a normal iPhone charging cord.

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Team Members: Aidan Gaul, Ross Johnson, Timothy Metcalf, Brian Mueller

2nd Place: Lacey Township High School, Lanoka Harbor, NJ

ALVOLT – “Mechanical Heart Valve”

This team’s invention is an electrically motorized valve replacement with an ultrasonic sensor to regulate the aortic valve’s leaflets to coincide with the blood flow of the systole and diastole phases. This invention is meant to significantly help a patient’s postoperative and cardiovascular health, along with the aorta, which is the most important artery in the heart.

Team Members: Hailey Carskaddan, Samantha Kievit, Kali Pullin, Seda Turkoglu

3rd Place: Chatham High School, Chatham, NJ

Chatham Cougars – “Inflatable Lower Leg Field Splint”

This team’s invention, the Inflataboot, is an inflatable leg brace to be used in emergency situations ranging from a sprain to a broken ankle. Often times, people find themselves in a situation where they do not know how to apply a brace or do not have time to learn how to. It is more convenient than carrying around a bulky brace, and more effective than wasting time assembling one.

Team Members: Kasper Bardecki, Thomas Giordano, Julia Lin, Kaitlin Pinaire

 

Thomas Edison said, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Smiles at Bioplastics

[image error]Know those attractive spools of colored plastic filament you can buy and load into a 3D printer to make your creations? What if the plastic filament comes from another source…..like algae? That’s right algae turned into bioplastics.

Researchers and designers in the Netherlands are working on this unusual use of algae, to replace synthetic plastics with bioplastics. And it may not stop with just algae as the researchers expand their ideas. It has a nice cache don’t you think….environmentally friendly materials to use when making things. Thomas Edison was a very big fan of using natural earth elements in his inventions.

Algae and seaweeds could be cultivated in local facilities, and during their growth process absorb carbon dioxide and other substances from both aquatic and atmospheric environments, creating oxygen and biomass (bioplastics). Dried algae bioplastic is powdered, mixed with other components and extruded filament is manufactured. Different compositions including color, texture and specific properties can be accomplished through the close control of various algae forms.

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Although this raw material for plastic filament is probably more costly, it does chalk-up economic credits for cleaning the environment; and using locally grown materials with less wastage and transportation energy savings. Can you see Edison smiling over this one!

Editor’s Deep Dive

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130527100524.htm
https://bioplasticsnews.com/2014/02/24/bioplastic-made-from-algae/
http://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/converting-algae-to-bioplastic-for-3d-printing/

Thomas Edison said, “If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves …”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Admires his Electric Vehicle Legacy

Electric vehicles of all kinds continue to penetrate the huge American automobile market. Today there are about 600,000 such vehicles on the road, compared to well over 220 million conventional gasoline and natural gas vehicles now on the roads.

This steady trend is prompting electric utilities and energy planning and advocacy groups to begin discussions about the nation’s electric utility industry’s ability to support the re-charging of these vehicles. Of course there could certainly be cases where the local utility lines in a neighborhood might need to be reinforced, or perhaps if enough electric cars are clustered in an area, neighborhood substations might need to be reinforced as well. This would depend on the local conditions of course and not subject to general rules….much like installing solar systems on homes and other buildings. It depends on the local conditions.

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Electric vehicle charging stations seem to be popping up everywhere!

The National Renewable Energy Lab broadly projects the American grid can handle 7.5 million electric vehicles; but this is an overall estimate as local electric utility lines and capacities vary widely across the country. For instance, older urban/suburban communities with their heavily congested areas and aging electric infrastructures are very different from long distance electric lines strung in sparsely populated semi-rural areas.

What might happen if an electric charging garage, with many parking spaces, is placed near a commuter train line in a mature suburban community? Or if a new development of apartment houses is part of a large urban renewal project in a city center? All this has to be looked at and planned.

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A worldwide happening…charging stations in China

It will take time and money to change the electric utility system to accommodate such a significant change. This is already happening to utilities now as folks are installing photovoltaic systems that can feed electric energy back into the grid, which can radically change the operation of utility lines previously designed for one-way power flow. Add to this the futuristic plans to have already charged electric vehicles act as tiny generating stations to discharge a portion of their stored battery energy back into the grid during high peak periods to help the grid.

You have to admire Thomas Edison and his charging of electric vehicles way back in 1908 in his home garage. The man knew what was coming; and don’t forget…..he also designed and built the first electric utility system in New York City in 1882.

Thomas Edison said, “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Likes Editing Genetic Materials

At the molecular world of bacteria and viruses, war routinely rages as various forms of life attack and try to overwhelm each other. Can you envision how the DNA of an invading bacteria can press an advantage and try to re-program its victim’s life processes?

But suppose as the attacking bacteria starts its assault, the defending bacteria quickly responds by modifying the attacking bacteria’s DNA and genes, using a special process to change and delete portions of that DNA so it becomes harmless. It would be similar to quickly modifying a malicious piece of software you accidentally picked up at a website, and then changing it lightning quick so it cannot infect your computer and important files!

Wouldn’t you think the ability to remove or “snip” out bad genes might be useful to all life forms; like your own if you had a pre-disposition to a disease? Think how the editing of genetic materials would affect the human population if you could identify and then grab hold of a nasty gene in the human genome sequence and simply delete it.

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If genome editing was as simple as using nano-sized scissors to get rid of bad genes!

Imagine how cancers and chronic diseases would begin disappearing if you could manipulate the human genome; and if you start this editing process at the embryo level, all subsequent cells that divide from this formative point on will be free of potentially bad cells, and future diseases.

A new gene editing technique called CRISPR, also called CRISPR/Cas9, is showing immense capability, being easier, cheaper and more efficient than previous strategies for modifying DNA. And it is derived from that example at the beginning of this articIe where one bacteria “out-DNA’s” the other!

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What is so cool about Crisper is its ease of use and robust nature. High school students are actually doing experiments today in biology labs to knock out genes. Obviously, new biotech start-ups are willing to bet some big money on this promising technology. Genetic materials are also being added to DNA to create new characteristics.

Editor’s Deep Dive

www.investors.com/news/technology/crispr-gene-editing-biotech-companies/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-surgery-may-be-enabled-by-a-new-technology/

If we can do this in humans and animals, it can also be done with agriculture. Thomas Edison would have certainly found this useful back in the 1920s when he was selectively breeding plants for their oily sap content as he tried to create a substitute for natural rubber, then in short supply and whose host countries were subject to wartime seizure by belligerent nations.

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Edison’s selectively bred 12- foot goldenrod plant as a possible alternative source of natural rubber

Thomas Edison said, “If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves …”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Smiles at Nuclear Fusion

Edison was big on clean energy, exclaiming in 1910 how much he would like to see solar energy become a reality…

“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy.

What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to

wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle

that. I wish I had more years left.”

-Thomas Edison

[image error]Today we are seeing that happen, with solar-electric panels springing up on buildings and commercial structures; and now, something else solar-wise is very promising—nuclear fusion. Unlike nuclear fission which is the cleaving or splitting of heavy atoms to produce lots of energy, fusion is the squeezing together of very light atoms like hydrogen to produce helium, thus releasing vast amounts of energy. To be precise, fusion is the process that our sun uses to covert hydrogen to helium. In its core, the Sun fuses 620 million metric tons of hydrogen to helium each second.

Our sun is powered by the nuclear fusion process-MIT is trying to contain that process in a magnetic bottle for use on earth

Elusive as the fusion process has been over the last 60 years, MIT in cooperation with a private entity is hopeful that within the next 15 years, fusion will arrive in time to make a big difference in reducing fossil fuel use, greatly ameliorating global climate change. The secret MIT ingredient for success involves a new class of high-temperature superconductors they believe will facilitate the world’s first fusion reactor that produces more energy than needs to be put in to get the fusion reaction going.

The MIT team believes they can achieve this by using new superconducting materials to produce ultra-powerful magnets, one of the main components of a fusion reactor. The entire fusion process must be maintained inside a magnetic bottle of sorts as the temperature is enormously high, on par with those at the center of the sun, far stronger than any materials we could use to contain it. Commonwealth Fusion Systems and MIT in partnership with an Italian energy company, Eni, and $50 million in supporting funds are ready to make this energy dream come true.

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The MIT SPARC fusion reactor test assembly

A newly available superconducting material – a steel tape coated with a compound called yttrium-barium-copper oxide, or YBCO – has allowed scientists to produce smaller, more powerful magnets. And this potentially reduces the amount of energy that needs to be put in to get the fusion reaction off the ground.

The experimental reactor being developed is designed to produce about 100MW of heat. While it will not turn that heat into electricity, it will produce, in pulses of about 10 seconds, as much power as is used by a small city. Scientists anticipate the output would be more than twice the power used to heat the plasma, achieving the ultimate technical milestone: positive net energy from fusion.

The fusion reaction is carbon-free, does not create greenhouse gases or produce hazardous radioactive waste of the sort made by conventional nuclear fission reactors. Did you hear that Thomas….clean, virtually unlimited energy….just like you had hoped for 110 years ago!

Editor’s Deep Dive

www.fusionforenergy.europa.eu/understandingfusion/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power
www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-fusion-power.aspx

Thomas Edison said, “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison, Ford, and Jobs – Player Coaches

OK….here goes…..what do Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Steve Jobs have in common?

Yes, they were all inventors; and yes, they changed the world. But, there was something else, which history will pronounce important as well. Know what it is?

All three were player coaches; that is, they coached their teams and invented too—doing both equally well. They had the proper balance in both roles, which is very difficult to do. And they knew, viscerally, the value of failure in ultimately producing better products.

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These icons were able to emotionally attach their teams to a goal, thereby deeply tapping into team creativity and ownership of the problem(s) at hand. They led their people, inspiring them to produce great things and most of all to think out-of-the-box. They knew intuitively when to get down and dirty into the work with them and when to trust their teams to get the job done—to stand by and cheer them on; or if necessary, help snow-plow them forward.

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Edison’s freethinking spirit and bonds with his workers promoted a creative atmosphere for everyone to bask in. It was not about punishing people and teams for failure. It was about encouragement and understanding the human spirit…motivation by example and working as hard as everyone else….gaining respect and giving it when it was due…..same with Ford and Jobs.

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It is leadership in action. These men were incredible project managers, able to consistently blend technical skills and management/leadership principles together.

Thomas Edison said, “The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison-Licensing Opportunities

In summary, Thomas Edison (1847-1931) has been hailed as the world’s greatest inventor. Among his many inventions (1,093 patents) are the phonograph, motion picture camera and the light bulb (including the entire electric power industry). He also created the basic approach to industrial research and development (R&D) still used today. Besides being an inventor he really stands out as an innovator and entrepreneur which is one of the reasons TIME Magazine stated he is “still relevant today”.

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Tom in his beloved chemistry lab

Edison Innovation Foundation

​The Edison Innovation Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the Edison Legacy and encourages students (including women and minorities) to embrace careers in science, technology, and engineering and is committed to educating the next generation of great innovators while using Edison and his Invention Factory as the foundation. www.thomasedison.org

​

Charles Edison Fund

Charles Edison was the son of Thomas Edison, the famous inventor and entrepreneur. Charles was a businessman and philanthropist and in 1948 established the Charles Edison Fund (“Fund”). The Fund was created to maintain the legacy of his father, Thomas Edison, and to meet his own philanthropic goals in good and bad economic times. www.charlesedisonfund.org

Licensing

The Fund engages in licensing the Edison name and image. Edison Intellectual property (“Edison IP”) generates extra revenues to support programs run by the Edison Innovation Foundation. Licensing is accomplished either with outside representatives or through its extensive social media platform. A recent example of an Edison license involves the Intel-Edison Compute module (chip) which evolved out of a formal license between the Fund and Intel Corporation. Below is a photo of the module and the “Edison Tommy” award given to inventors, entrepreneurs and contest winners who participate in ongoing and special programs.

Anyone interested in licensing Edison intellectual property should contact:

Charles Edison Fund

One Riverfront Plaza

1037 Raymond Blvd., Suite 340

Newark, New Jersey 07102

www.charlesedisonfund.org

Phone: 973-648-0500

Email: info@thomasedison.org

Why not associate your company with the Thomas Edison image:

The scope and import of his lifetime achievements are still today responsible for about 10% of the world’s economy—about $6 trillion annually.
Some economists believe his achievements are responsible for providing one-fourth of all the jobs on the planet.
Life magazine proclaimed in 1996 that Thomas Edison is the Man of the Millennium.
Tell the marketplace your company is innovative and entrepreneurial in the spirit of Thomas Edison. We can help you do this. Contact us.

Contributions

The Edison Innovation Foundation invites donors to support the ongoing needs of the Edison Foundations by contributing to the continuing efforts to revitalize science education and Edison’s legacy. Innovation and Edison drove us through the industrial age and will continue to drive us into the future. Please help us carry on our important work. Financial contributions to the Edison Innovation Foundation are 100% tax deductible. www.thomasedison.org

Edison Social Media

www.thomasedison.org
www.facebook.com/thomasedison
www.instagram.com/thomasedison1847/
www.edisonmuckers.org
www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm
www.pinterest.com/thomasaedison/

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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.