Post by Laurence Aikens

Meredith Charles "Flash" Gourdine (September 26, 1929- November 20, 1998) was an athlete, engineer, and physicist. He earned a BS in Engineering Physics from Cornell University, where he was selected for membership in the Quill and Dagger society. He earned a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from the California Institute of Technology while working as a Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was an expert in Electrogasdynamics, the generation of electrical energy based on the conversion of the kinetic energy contained in a high-pressure, ionized, moving combustion gas. He specialized in devising applications, including electric precipitator systems. He also invented the Focus Flow Heat Sink, used to cool computer chips. He was granted a total of over 30 US patents. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki he won a silver medal for the long jump. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence