Why our nation’s top engineers are sometimes just kids at heart

Jeff Wilcox is co-founder of the National Engineering Forum, and Lockheed Martin’s vice president of engineering.

As a child, I clearly remember looking at the moon through my first telescope, looking at pond water through a microscope, and mixing chemicals with my first chemistry set.  Science sparked my interest in building things, and that led me to become an engineer.

The National Engineering Forum was founded more than a year ago by the Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Council on Competitiveness, and the National Academy of Engineering to preserve and protect our country’s valuable engineering enterprise. As we’ve hosted regional dialogues across the country this year to explore the local challenges facing American engineers, we recognized that their interest in engineering was often piqued in childhood. Toys that enable kids to design, build, and explore have inspired future engineers and innovators for generations.

My favorite engineering toy was a Heathkit computer.  Heathkit was a major source of projects for me, and I’m thrilled to see a re-surgence in project kits for my three boys.

This holiday season, we asked some of our National Engineering Forum partners – some of the most successful and impactful innovators in the country - what toy inspired them. 

As their enthusiastic responses prove, engineers never lose their sense of curiosity and wonder.

Tell us about your favorite engineering toy in the comments below.

"I grew up taking everything apart and putting things back together.  I wanted to know how things work and how the world works.  Some of my favorite times were spent with Lincoln Logs, an Erector Set, a microscope, a chemistry set, a telescope, my first portable transistor radio, and my first pair of walkie talkies.  I do recall one toy that I badly wanted as a young child: Robot Commando.  I was thrilled to receive this as a Christmas present around 1960.   It was an intriguing and amazing toy at the time." David B. Munson, Robert J. Vlasic dean of engineering, University of Michigan

 "The thing most responsible for pursuing a career in science and engineering was the dark sky of a small town in Illinois. By the time I was 10, I had decided that I wanted to be an astronomer. My parents gave me reclining outdoor chairs for my birthday one year so we could all look at the heavens in comfort, followed in fairly short order by the a 6-inch reflecting telescope. Over time, my interests evolved, but it all started with staring at the stars." Julia Phillips, vice president and chief technology officer, Sandia National Laboratories

 "When I was 9, a friend of mine had a pedal car like this one; I asked him to flip it upside down, and once I understood it, I rushed home to build something similar with my Erector set. On my 10^th birthday, my Dad gave me an electronics set, like this one. I was hooked. By junior high I was spending at least half my allowance on electronic parts. By high school, I was building high-power audio amplifiers and music light boxes. Even though I was a bit “nerdy,” my friends actually thought I was “moderately cool” (which was good enough for me) because I brought cool audio gear to the parties." Rico Malvar, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist, Microsoft Research

"The toy that influenced me the most in my future career path was a chemistry set where I could experiment with lots of different things. I chose to pursue engineering because I was fascinated with the space program while growing up and recognized that engineering would be a major enabler toward achieving those types of exciting accomplishments." Sandia President and Labs Director Paul Hommert

"Meccano, because it spurred my imagination of what is possible to build." Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California

"As a teenager, I loved building Heathkit projects – by soldering electronic components like resisters, capacitors, and diodes onto circuit boards. At the end of the project, I had built my very own clock or television. Those kits piqued my curiosity and taught me so much about electronics that I went on to earn a Ph.D. in electrical engineering." Ray O. Johnson, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Lockheed Martin

"The toy that truly was magical for me was a "pull back" toy car. I couldn't understand how the car could be pulled back and then zoom forward.  A few days after getting one, I broke it - and when my mom asked me why, I believe my response was, "I want to see what is inside." After that, I wanted to know what was inside every toy... which basically meant broken toys and angry parents. It was natural for me to become a mechanical engineer. It was never discussed in our family, it was always assumed." Dinesh Verma, dean and professor, School of Systems and Enterprises, and executive director, Systems Engineering Research Center, Stevens Institute of Technology

"A gasoline engine-powered airplane (before the days of remote control) got me very interested in airplanes and flight mechanics." Michael Kluse, director, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

 "Back in those days, you could go to Radio Shack and get a 100 in 1 Electronic Project Kit to wire up circuits, make lights flash and try them out.  That was my favorite toy.  I made a radio, a transmitter and things that made lights blink. We essentially teach souped up versions of that today… if you walked into a circuits class it's essentially the same thing with more bells and whistles." Leo Kempel, acting dean, College of Engineering, Michigan State University

"A rugby ball.  It inspired me to go into my field in the U.K., which is in the sciences there, but engineering in the U.S."  David B. Williams, dean of College of Engineering, Ohio State University

"Since childhood, the Bronze Age, Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations have fascinated me. I devoted years to understanding these complex palace cultures’ role in urban evolution.  Were designers and builders of the mighty Cyclopean stone walls and fortress citadel of Mycenae artists or engineers?  Were the planners of Akrotiri’s streets, with two-story terraced houses adorned with frescoes, engineers or artists?  Imagination and ideas, harnessed to the engine of creativity and made real by the talent, capabilities, and solutions of an artist-engineer culture, created the foundation of Western Civilization. They were artists and engineers, one and the same." Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO, Council on Competitiveness