Category Archives: STEM

Thomas Edison and PSE&G—a Perfect Team

The Light Bulb Icon and a Utility Giant Celebrate Invention

*The winners will be celebrated on May 15, 2019!*

It’s May and the level of excitement at the Edison Innovation Foundation is nearing its annual peak; because this is the month for the grand awards in our annual Thomas Edison Pitch Contest. In this our 9th straight year, we have reviewed numerous entries from all over the United States, and winnowed it down to 9 finalists, three each in the elementary, middle and high school divisions. Finalists will compete in a 2-3 minute team pitch to determine the final order of awards.

What makes this year doubly blessed is our new partnership with Public Service Electric & Gas [PSE&G] Foundation. PSE&G is New Jersey’s largest electric and gas utility, with an impeccable national reputation for customer service reliability; clean power generation and a pioneer in applying photovoltaic installations on utility poles, commercial properties and rehabilitated brownfield sites.

PSE&G has the creative spirit that ties right in with the theme of the pitch contest. They have long been a booster of STEM educational programs throughout their service territories, and we are proud to have them associated with this Thomas Edison program. Students will even get the chance to be judged by one of their principal Technical Engineers, Dawn Shilkoski!

*Thomas N. McCarter, founder and President of PSE&G explains a tour of the new Kearny Generating Station in 1925 to Gov. of NJ, A. Harry Moore (left) and Thomas Edison (right)*

This year’s awards ceremony will take place “under the big top” at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, the site of the legendary inventor’s West Orange works where Edison combined invention and entrepreneurship to create the modern world of R&D labs, team-based problem solving, and tied it to our ever expanding concept of technology driven economic progress.

Edison is the great grandfather of modern STEM / STEAM thinking, the educational paradigm taught in schools all over the world. Our finalists will have mimicked the Edison style of thinking throughout their journey from raw idea to final design.

Edison on solar energy – “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.”

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

Thomas Edison Admires Maria Montessori

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Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She initially worked in the fields of psychiatry, education and anthropology, eventually concentrating on education in 1907. She was truly a liberated woman, who supposedly even entertained the thought of becoming an engineer.

Her Montessori method of education stressed the development of a child’s own initiative and natural abilities–especially through practical play, and a hands-on, self-paced approach to learning; aimed at inspiring creativity and imagination, along with independent thinking [OMG….sounds like today’s STEM!]. This educational paradigm, after a tenuous start and the tumult of World War I, eventually spread over the globe.

Dr. Montessori made her first visit to the United States for a brief lecture tour in 1912. She was given an enthusiastic welcome, including a reception at the White House. She gave her first lecture at Carnegie Hall to overflowing crowds, and stayed at the home of Thomas Edison, who admired her work. In addition, other admirers were Alexander Graham Bell, Helen Keller, Henry Ford, Woodrow Wilson and Mahatma Gandhi. Today, estimates vary widely, but as many as 8,000 Montessori schools flourish in the United States.

**Montessori with her beloved children (above and below)**

**(**https://montessori-ami.org/resource-library/facts/timeline-maria-montessoris-life**)**

Edison was quoted as saying … ”I like the Montessori method. It teaches through play. It makes learning a pleasure. It follows the natural instincts of the human being … The present system casts the brain into a mold. It does not encourage original thought or reasoning.” This meshes well with Edison’s many career pronouncements about changing the current form of American education to make it more practical. It is worthwhile to note that early markets that Edison envisioned for his phonograph and motion pictures were school classrooms.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Co-founders of Google, have said that Montessori education allowed them to think for themselves. They credit Montessori with allowing them to question what was going on around them and to discover the answers for themselves. Former Montessori students, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, and Will Wright, inventor of “The Sims” video game series, also credit Montessori for allowing them to ask questions, discover, and learn on their own terms.

Thomas Edison said, “The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.”

Thomas Edison Ponders Where the Moon Came From

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Recent geochemical studies show that the chemical composition of the Moon is very similar to that of the Earth—that is, the Moon is made up primarily of terrestrial materials rather than materials from the impacting celestial body. The Earth and Moon are like identical twins. No other celestial bodies we know of share this kind of chemical relationship.

In a recent TED talk, Planetary Scientist Sarah T. Stewart discusses how she discovered new kind of astronomical object — a synestia — which presents a new way to look at the mystery of the Moon’s origin.

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Inventors … Start Your Engines! Thomas Edison Pitch Contest–Jan. 12, 2018

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Want to see your students in the Spring 2018 winner’s circle to accept an award for their invention and creative pitch at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park [TENHP] in West Orange, NJ? Want them to see the place where America’s fabulous and still vibrant innovation journey began?

First thing you must do is register them to be a part of the 8th annual invention and pitch contest. It all starts on 1/12/18 and this website tells you everything you need to know www.thomasedisonpitch.org.

Here are some of the amazing sights at TENHP they will see if they are one of the final competitors in this national contest.

Edison’s desk where he managed things

His combination office and library

First motion picture studio, the Black Maria

Edison’s legendary machine shop

Give your students a chance to experience team based innovation, just like Edison pioneered in his invention factory and R&D lab. This is exactly what STEM is all about. Inspire those young minds in your classroom. Maybe someday, like Edison, they will change the world.