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 January 1964 The first mouse was the brainchild of Douglas Engelbart. His work on this new user-friendly way of interacting with a computer contributed to a number of now-common technologies, from Windows and teleconferencing to email and the Internet. The heart of mouse technology is the graphical user interface. Engelbart received a patent for his mouse-like device, which had a wooden shell and two wheels. By 1968, Engelbart had developed a plastic version of the mouse with three buttons. In 1972 Xerox took Engelbart’s mouse and developed a graphical user interface for its Alto computer. In 1982, Mouse Systems released the first mouse for a PC. But the mouse didn’t truly take off until Apple released its Lisa computer with a single-button mouse. Microsoft quickly followed by introducing a mouse for a PC that came with a card and software for $200. >> Engineering Innovations Archive >> View our 60-year timeline for more historical innovations in engineering!
Design News Celebrates a Milestone: 60 Years
My View Our 60th Anniversary commemorates the achievements and innovations of the past several decades, and looks at the future of the design engineering field. Full Story Engineering’s Superstars Chart the Future Engineers of the Year Special Design News turned to several of its past Engineers of the Year for their vision of tomorrow’s technology – and the tough challenges facing the profession. Full Story | Photo Gallery Get Ready for the Autonomous Vehicle Automotive Technology Innovations The next two decades could see the arrival of autonomous vehicles, especially if DARPA’s 2005 Grand Challenge is a future indicator. Full Story | Photo Gallery Tracking Electronics’ ‘Killer App’ Electronics Technology Innovations No one knows what the electronics industry’s so-called “killer app” will be in the next ten years, but experts are betting it will emerge from the automotive or medical markets. Full Story | Photo Gallery Nano Materials: Why Size Will Matter Materials Technology Innovations Use of extremely tiny particles dramatically changes the property profiles for plastic composites and metal alloys, generating future design engineering opportunities. Commercial applications will progress one nano step at a time. Full Story | Photo Gallery Medical World Poised for Internet Era Medical Technology Innovations Using wireless communications, cardiac patients will increasingly link to their physicians via the Internet to get a diagnosis. Full Story | Photo Gallery If You Can’t Beat IT, Join IT Motion Control & Automation Technology Innovations Industrial Ethernet is transforming how machine components interact with one another and how machines interact with enterprise systems. Full Story | Photo Gallery Divide and Conquer Software/Hardware Technology Innovations Product development organizations need to be a lot more efficient, for which they will need faster hardware that costs less to run and more sophisticated software that facilitates collaboration and enhances simulation. Those tools are available; the challenge is how best to deploy them. Full Story | Photo Gallery
Designing for the Third World In Search of a Sharper Vision The Courage to Take a Risk Help for Failing Hearts Exploring Other Worlds |
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Podcast: Design for Environment What’s the future of environmental technology? Pam Gordon, president of Technology Forecasters Inc. and author of Lean and Green: Profit for Your Workplace and the Environment talks about the design-for-environment timeline, past, present and future. 15:14   Listen Now Blog: 60 Years of Engineering Innovations Latest Post: Who Invented the Microchip? Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby are both credited with inventing the microchip. Watch a video discussing the development of the microchip, looking at contributions by Noyce and Kilby. Read More
Engineering’s Superstars Chart the Future Divide and Conquer |
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