List of Lehigh University engineering highlights

Engineering highlights

Lehigh University students, faculty and alumni have made significant contributions to the nation and the field of engineering, not limited to but including:

Columbia Space Shuttle forensics

Following the 2003

forensic analysis during a two-day joint Lehigh-NASA symposium.^[1]

This became part of their senior project, a requirement for graduation. Lehigh was the first university to investigate the debris due to its advanced microscope technology.

First commercial product manufactured in space

The first commercial product manufactured in space were microscopic polystyrene beads, 10 μm in diameter, that were made during

microgravity environment. The technology necessary to produce the beads was jointly developed by Lehigh University and NASA

.

The legendary Ford Mustang, the first of the "pony" cars, was developed and introduced in 1964 under the guidance of Lee Iacocca (Lehigh Class of 1946), former general manager of Ford Motor Company's Ford Division. Still in production, the Mustang combined fun, performance and styling at a low price and had the most successful first year sales of any automobile. In its first two years of production, three Ford Motor Company plants produced nearly 1.5 million Mustangs, a record unequaled before or since.

Golden Gate Bridge

Originally designed by

Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the Panama Canal

.

Landing Ship Tank

A critical factor for the Allied victory in

LST). A 328-foot (100 m) cargo ship with an opening bow capable of beaching itself, it enabled armored support of landings without the need to capture a port. This greatly increased the choice of invasion locations and made defense against the landings more difficult. The Dravo Corporation, founded by brothers Francis Dravo (Lehigh Class of 1887) and Ralph Dravo (Lehigh Class of 1889), was the lead yard responsible for the LST shipbuilding program [2] and produced hundreds of them for use in the Allied landings in Normandy and the Pacific. Dravo Brothers also built Destroyer Escorts for the Battle of the Atlantic and many of the tugboats

used in American harbors.

Packard V-12 engine

The Packard V-12, a product of the

PT Boats

in World War II, which were each powered by three of them. James Ward Packard introduced many advances to the internal combustion engine, including the first automatic spark timing advance, allowing an engine to produce more power at higher RPM's and still in use today.

P-51 Mustang

USAAF P-51B Mustang - First version with Packard Merlin engine

One of the most famous fighter aircraft of all time, the

V-1650 engine made under license from Rolls-Royce. The mass-produced Packard Motor Company (co-founded by James Ward Packard, Lehigh Class of 1884) version of the Merlin was actually found by Rolls-Royce

to be superior to its own handmade version, and the Packard version powered most P-51s. Packard also made improvements to increase the maintainability of the engine, which were subsequently adopted by Rolls-Royce in its own versions.

Panama Canal

Two firms founded by Lehigh graduates were instrumental in the construction of the Panama Canal. The McClintic-Marshall Construction Company constructed the locks and the Dravo Corporation manufactured the enormous lock gates. The gates were uniquely engineered to float and have adjustable buoyancy. This allowed them to be made in the U.S., towed like a barge to Panama, and minimized the force needed to open and close them. The Panama Canal is recognized as one of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World" [3].

Penske PC-23 Indianapolis Race Car

The

Penske Racing

has won 16 Indianapolis 500s, more than any other team.

RSA security key factorization

Lehigh University is home to Dr. Bruce Dodson, whose significant contributions to

RSA-155, a 512-bit key, led to the recommendation that commercial encryption of computer data be based on stronger 1024-bit keys.^[4]

Tau Beta Pi

Tau Beta Pi (ΤΒΠ), the highly regarded national engineering honor society, was formed at Lehigh University in 1885 to recognize the accomplishments of those in the field of engineering. The seal of Tau Beta Pi features brown and white, the colors of Lehigh. Lehigh's chapter was the first established and is known as the Pennsylvania Alpha.

References

^ Rubinkam, Michael (2005-02-28). "College students testing pieces of doomed space shuttle". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
^ RSA-140 is Factored! Archived 2010-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
^ RSA-150 is Factored! Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
^ Factorization of RSA-155 - Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Lehigh University Engineering Heritage Wiki Site

[Columbia-1] Rubinkam, Michael (2005-02-28). "College students testing pieces of doomed space shuttle". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved 2006-08-14.

[rsa140-2] RSA-140 is Factored! Archived 2010-01-22 at the Wayback Machine

[rsa155-3] RSA-150 is Factored! Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine

[1024bit-keys-4] Factorization of RSA-155 - Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine

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