As you know, February is recognized by the Government of Canada as Black History month. This year, the theme is “Black Canadian Youth: Boundless, Rooted and Proud”.
While famous Black celebrities like Drake (yes, he’s black – fight me!), Dwayne Johnson and Usain Bolt have definitely made their marks and become role models for many today, we rarely hear about Black Engineers who have made equally great contributions in STEM.
Today, your very own π peer would like to present Jerry Lawson, and if you have any interest at all in video gaming (which you do – you’re in Engineering LOL), you’d want to keep scrolling.
Jerry was once the Chief Hardware Engineer and Director at Fairchild Semiconductor, a company in San Francisco. At the time, gaming systems had their game programming stored on the ROM storage and soldered onto the game hardware, which could not be removed. Jerry and his team figured out how to install the ROM on a cartridge that could be inserted and removed from a console unit repeatedly without electrically shocking the users. So, if you have ever played Mario Kart on a Nintendo 64 or any game today, which is essentially an evolution of Jerry’s antiquated invention, you’re advertently or inadvertently already celebrating Black History Month.
Interestingly, Jerry was also part of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists that later produced Apple founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. And funny enough, Jerry interviewed Wozniak for a position at Fairchild but did not hire him (big lol)!
In relation to Black History Month, I would like to also refer interested parties to various organizations and communities in British Columbia and nearby that contribute to Black culture:
- BC Black History Awareness Society
- National Society of Black Engineers
UBC Student Organizations:
- Black Students Union of UBC
- African Awareness Initiative
- African Business Club
You could check out the Government of Canada’s Heritage page to learn more about Black History Month OR… Watch Kevin Hart’s recent Netflix special “Guide to Black History Month”. Your choice.
Well, I guess this is it people *sad reacts only*. Until next time, over and out.
Much love,
π peer