By
Mary
Bellis
Dr. Meredith Gourdine was born in
Newark New Jersey on September 26, 1929, and grew up in the streets of
Harlem and Brooklyn. Meredith Gourdine attended Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York, and received a Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the California
Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
Meredith Gourdine pioneered the research
of electrogasdynamics. Electrogasdynamics is a way to disperse fog and
smoke. By applying strong electrical forces to either you can control those
elements. He was responsible for the engineering technique termed Incineraid
for aiding in the removal of smoke from buildings. His work on gas dispersion
developed techniques for dispersing fog from airport runways. Meredith
Gourdine also created a generator that allowed for the cheaper transmission
of electricity. He held more than 40 patents for various inventions.
Meredith Gourdine built a multi-million
dollar corporation that is based on his ideas in the field of electrogasdynamics
(EGD). Using the principles of EGD, Meredith Gourdine successfully converted
natural gas to electricity for everyday use. Applications of EGD include
refrigeration, desalination of sea water, and reducing the pollutants in
smoke.
Meredith Gourdine served on the technical
staff of the Ramo-Woolridge Corporation from 1957-58. He then became a
Senior Research Scientist at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory from
1958-60. He became a Lab Director of the Plasmodyne Corporation from 1960-62
and Chief Scientist of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation from 1962 to 1964.
In 1964, he served on the President's Panel on Energy.
Meredith Gourdine established a research
laboratory, Gourdine Laboratories, in Livingston, New Jersey, with a staff
of over 150.
As an interesting side note, Meredith
Gourdine won the silver medal in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki for the
long jump. Meredith Gourdine is also blind. He died in Houston, Texas on
November 20, 1998. Meredith Gourdine was serving as the president of Energy
Innovation, Inc. of Houston, Texas at the time of his death.
Continue
with >>> Patents Issued
to Meredith Gourdine
photo provided by Department of Energy
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