Tahira Reid Smith
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Tahira Reid Smith | |
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| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Organization | Purdue University |
| Known for | Inventing the automated double dutch jump rope machine |
Tahira Reid Smith is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, who is best known for inventing the automated double dutch jump rope machine.
Early life and education
Reid grew up in the Bronx in New York City. As a young girl, her Jamaican-American family urged her to develop her creative spirit. According to her, her extended family fostered a desire to socialize with people “from all walks of life”,[1] and she saw how her family members would invent innovative solutions to their everyday problems, “such as redesigning shoes and organising car sharing”.[1] She has mentioned her grandfather, who she views as a “maker”, as one of her main influences in her innovation path. She excelled in math and science subjects as a young child.[2]
Reid did her undergraduate bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in the same field at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[3]
Invention
For a school assignment, she was asked to illustrate something that she would like to have. She thought of a pain point in her school recreation experience: “she did not have anyone to turn Double Dutch with her when she came home from school”.[4] To address this problem, she invented a machine for turning the ropes automatically in double dutch skipping. While this idea remained a simple sketch during her childhood years, years later, she would revisit the invention.
Impact
A book, Double Dutch, was written about her experience and further popularized her invention.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Black Inventors and Innovators: New Perspectives – Design@Open". 24 November 2020.
- ↑ Pike, J. (2022). Be intentional: A roundtable with Purdue Me’s Black Faculty. Mechanical Engineering - Purdue University. https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2022/be-intentional-a-roundtable-with-purdue-mes-black-faculty
- ↑ "The Ethic of Care in the Academy: Understanding and Overcoming the Culture of Silence (Part II) – DEIcommittee". Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ↑ Chambers, V. (2002, October 14). Excerpt from: Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood. https://www.yonkerspublicschools.org/cms/lib/NY01814060/Centricity/Domain/5867/Grade%204/Day%208.pdf
External links
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