engineering

Tahira Reid Smith

Tahira Reid Smith is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tahira Reid Smith rather than just read about it. In short: Tahira Reid Smith is an American inventor and mechanical engineering professor known for her invention of the automated Double Dutch machine. Early life and education Tahira Reid Smith was born and raised in the Bronx, New York.

Key takeaways

Tahira Reid Smith belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tahira Reid Smith to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tahira Reid Smith from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tahira Reid Smith is an American inventor and mechanical engineering professor known for her invention of the automated Double Dutch machine.

Early life and education Tahira Reid Smith was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. Smith was born the only child and a first generation American to Jamaican immigrant parents. When in the third grade, Smith won a youth poster contest where she first came up with the idea for her Double Dutch machine. Smith received her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2000. During her undergraduate career, Smith took a class called "Introduction to Engineering Design" with Professor Burt Swersey, who would become her mentor and co-inventor for her double dutch patent. With direction from Swersey, Smith began to develop her Double Dutch machine. Smith also received her master's degree in mechanical engineering from RPI in 2004. In 2010, she obtained her PhD in Design Science from the University of Michigan.

Career Smith received her first patent for her Double Dutch machine in 1999. As part of the Lemelson Center's symposium, "The Playful Mind", Smith displayed her Double Dutch machine at the National Museum of American History in 2000. In 2003, she obtained her second patent for her Double Dutch invention. Because of her Double Dutch invention, Smith has been featured in the New York Times magazine, NBC's Today Show, and her story has been shared in a few children's books. She has received funding for projects from the National Science Foundation, Proctor and Gamble, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Smith's research has been featured in several peer reviewed journals and conference publications. In 2018, Smith was presented with the American Society for Engineering Education Outstanding New Mechanical Engineering Educator award, along with being featured as an inventor in the Smithsonian Lemelson Center's Game Changers series. Smith teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in mechanical engineering at Purdue University. She also serves as the director of the Research in Engineering and Interdisciplinary Design (REID) Laboratory at Purdue University. She founded and serves as the co-chair of the Trailblazers in Engineering program at Purdue University. She also co-founded the Black in Engineering collective. Smith was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2024.

Further reading Riordan, Teresa. (2000-02-14). "Patents; An inventor makes good on a third-grade notion." The New York Times.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tahira Reid Smith

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tahira Reid Smith claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tahira Reid Smith before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tahira Reid Smith ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tahira Reid Smith

In research: Tahira Reid Smith appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tahira Reid Smith in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tahira Reid Smith is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century African-American scientists, American mechanical engineers, American people of Jamaican descent, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tahira Reid Smith outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tahira Reid Smith in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tahira Reid Smith means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tahira Reid Smith out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tahira Reid Smith in simple terms?

Tahira Reid Smith is an American inventor and mechanical engineering professor known for her invention of the automated Double Dutch machine. Early life and education Tahira Reid Smith was born and raised in the Bronx, New York.

Why does Tahira Reid Smith matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tahira Reid Smith?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tahira Reid Smith.