Lonnie johnson super soaker biography

Currently, Lonnie Johnson holds over patents, with over 20 more pending, and is the author of several publications on spacecraft power systems. JBT are developing revolutionary energy technology. JBT is introducing a new generation of rechargeable battery technology which has the potential to revolutionize the battery industry. Lonnie Johnson talking about global energy and environmental challenges as part of the Office of Naval Research's 70th Anniversary Edition Distinguished Lecture Series in February US Navy photo by John F.

Lonnie was born in Mobile, Alabama in According to Biography. Growing up, Lonnie loved tinkering and repairing things like his father did around the house, skills that helped him later as an inventor. One day I was making some rocket fuel on top of the stove. It ignited and could have nearly burned the house down. There were a few tragic incidents - on one occasion some kids shot someone with a Super Soaker, and he shot back with a real gun.

On another occasion, a water fight in Boston escalated into a real gun fight and a teenager was killed. There were also reports of people using them in weird ways, for example filling them with bleach instead of water. The mayor of Boston tried to introduce a voluntary sales ban on the toys.

Lonnie johnson super soaker biography: Engineer and entrepreneur Lonnie Johnson

I got a phone call from a reporter from that city, who, in the most serious and grave voice told me, "We've got a report that Super Soakers are being used in drive-by shootings, and we were wondering if you had any comment. I had no idea what to say to him. In the end, I said, "Well… you know… I think we should have more of that. In the back of my mind, I felt that my work on toy guns was probably less harmful than the work I did on real weapons systems.

Further generations of Super Soakers followed, and I went on to design the N-Strike range of Nerf dart guns, which used some of the same compressed air technology.

Lonnie johnson super soaker biography: Lonnie Johnson is a

Being a toy that sells year-round, I made even more money through Nerf guns than I had with the Super Soaker. I didn't buy a yacht or anything. I've spent the money on something much more interesting - to me, anyway. I have built a scientific facility in Atlanta, Georgia, which has about 30 staff. Many versions of the gun were sold - here is Super Soaker superfan Chris Reid's super collection.

For more than 20 years I have been interested in battery technology. Batteries typically contain liquid, but we have developed an all-ceramic battery which uses glass as an electrolyte. It can hold three times as much charge as a lithium ion battery and it is stable enough that it can be used in very harsh environments, such as oil wells.

It can be bulk-manufactured in a similar way to ceramic plates. We are also working on an engine which is the great, great-grandson of the cooling system I was working on in when I hit upon the idea of the Super Soaker. The Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter J-TEC is a very efficient engine that uses hydrogen to convert heat directly into electricity and it has no moving mechanical parts.

Lonnie johnson super soaker biography: Lonnie Johnson is an American

When I look at a problem I have an intuition about whether or not it can be solved, but that isn't good enough for most investors. The process of invention requires breakthroughs and you can't predict when those will happen. Super soakers - and copycat water guns - feature heavily in the Songkran Festival in Thailand every year. At our offices we have a lot of the toys kicking around and every now and then we do play with them.

I also take the guns into schools to give talks. Kids need exposure to ideas, and they need to be given an opportunity to experience success. Once you get that feeling, it grows and feeds itself - but some kids have got to overcome their environments and attitudes that have been imposed on them. In spite of the things that have been perpetrated on my race - holding us in bondage under slavery, then making it illegal to educate us and then subjecting us to long-term discrimination and criticism - we succeed anyway, to a very large extent.

We just need to realise what we're capable of. For a while I tried to buy every toy that contained one of my patents, but I couldn't keep up. After I'm finished with all this hard science stuff, I'm looking forward to doing some more straightforward inventing. Stuff where it's easier to make a bit of money. I have a few ideas in mind - not toys, just consumer products that I know will be easy to manufacture and that will sell well.

But I hope you don't mind if I keep them to myself for now. As told to williamkremerexternal. Johnson first conceived the Super Soaker while doing work with the U. Air Force. Initially called the "Power Drencher" when it first appeared in toy shops init eventually got its trademark name after some tweaks and remarketing. Johnson tweaked the design of the water gun, replacing the water in the Super Soaker with a toy Nerf projectile, which became the N-Strike Nerf product line.

In February Johnson filed suit against Hasbro after he discovered that he was being underpaid royalties for the Super Soaker and several Nerf toys. Johnson holds more than patents, most of which are for his Super Soaker. Johnson is married to Linda Moore. They have four children and live in the Ansley Park district of Atlanta, Georgia.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. American inventor born For other uses, see Lonnie Johnson. Mobile, AlabamaU. Early life [ edit ].

Lonnie johnson super soaker biography: Lonnie George Johnson (born October

Career [ edit ]. Super Soaker [ edit ]. Accolades [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ].