Black and STEMbruary, Day 10
Feb. 10th, 2025 01:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
justphoenix 10. Elijah McCoy, BEng
Have you ever used the phrase "the real McCoy?" (Is that still a thing people say?) If so, you're referencing Elijah McCoy, engineer and inventor.
Mr. McCoy was born in Ontario to formerly enslaved parents who escaped via the Underground Railroad. He majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Edinburgh. He's best known for inventing the "oil-drip cup", an automatic lubrication device for locomotive steam engines. That may not sound like much, but the prior lubrication solution was stopping the train every so often, allowing the engine to cool down, and then applying a lubricant.
Mr. McCoy eventually was awarded 57 patents, largely for lubrication.
Have you ever used the phrase "the real McCoy?" (Is that still a thing people say?) If so, you're referencing Elijah McCoy, engineer and inventor.
Mr. McCoy was born in Ontario to formerly enslaved parents who escaped via the Underground Railroad. He majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Edinburgh. He's best known for inventing the "oil-drip cup", an automatic lubrication device for locomotive steam engines. That may not sound like much, but the prior lubrication solution was stopping the train every so often, allowing the engine to cool down, and then applying a lubricant.
Mr. McCoy eventually was awarded 57 patents, largely for lubrication.
