Lonnie Johnson has accomplished much in his lifetime, including the invention of the Super Soaker water gun. This powerful squirt gun has become one of the top-selling toys in the world. Moreover, Johnson’s work has provided many jobs and economic growth in the United States. His accomplishments have served as an inspiration to aspiring inventors, especially those from underrepresented communities.
Lonnie Johnson Invented the Super Soaker
In 1982, Lonnie Johnson was a 32-year-old engineer working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Galileo mission to Jupiter. But as a longtime hobbyist who enjoyed taking apart his sister’s toys to see how they worked, he dreamed of inventing something to improve people’s lives. At home, as he worked, he tinkered with a prototype heat pump that ran on water instead of environmentally hazardous freon. Johnson had a eureka moment when a nozzle he hooked up to the sink accidentally shot water spray across his bathroom. He realized the same concept could be used to create a high-powered water gun.
After a seven-year search that included countless unsuccessful pitching sessions, the toy company Larami finally bought the rights to Johnson’s invention in 1989 and released the Super Soaker as the “Power Drencher.” Since then, the toy has been sold millions of times and is still one of the world’s best-selling water guns.
Despite his success with the Super Soaker, Lonnie Johnson hasn’t put the reins down on his other pursuits. He has a host of other patents (including an improved ceramic battery and hair rollers that set without heat) and continues to work on projects like a home radon detector and a rechargeable battery. He also has a passion for inspiring young children to follow their dreams.
He Invented the JTEC
Lonnie Johnson was a natural inventor who loved to tinker with anything he could get his hands on. He once tore up his sister’s baby doll to see what made the eyes close, and nearly burned down the house when he tried cooking rocket fuel in one of his mother’s saucepans. His love for inventing and his curiosity about how things worked led him to Tuskegee University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in nuclear engineering. After graduating, he went to work for the Air Force, where he worked on the B-2 stealth bomber and later joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
In his spare time, Lonnie Johnson continued to tinker with inventions of his own. In 1982, he was working on a refrigeration system that used water instead of Freon—a harmful chemical—and created a nozzle at his bathroom sink that shot a stream of water. This inspired him to create the Super Soaker, a powerful water gun that has since become a beloved childhood toy.
Following the success of the Super Soaker, Johnson founded his own research and development company and acquired dozens of patents. He is currently working on the JTEC, an advanced heat engine that converts solar energy into electricity more efficiently than existing technology. The JTEC has the potential to revolutionize the solar energy industry.
He Invented the Linex Robot
Among Lonnie Johnson’s most famous inventions is the Super Soaker, which has brought joy to millions of children and adults around the world. It is an exciting water gun that can shoot powerful streams of liquid and provides an excellent way to cool off during hot summer days. Johnson’s career has inspired many aspiring inventors and demonstrates that hard work pays off.
As a kid, Lonnie Johnson loved tinkering with household items and appliances. He would dismantle his sister’s doll to see what made its eyes close, and he built his first robot during high school. By the time he was in his senior year, Johnson had a prototype that earned him a top prize at a science competition sponsored by the University of Alabama. His compressed-air-power robot, Linex, won him a scholarship to Tuskegee University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and later a master’s in nuclear engineering.
From there, Lonnie Johnson worked on interplanetary space missions for NASA and the stealth bomber program for the U.S. Air Force. He also founded his own R&D company, which has developed two inventions that could change the way we generate energy. He has stuck with these projects for decades, and he says it’s because he chooses “the hard problems.” Johnson hopes his work will help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
He Invented the Linex Power Drencher
Lonnie Johnson was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1949. He spent much of his childhood tinkering and inventing. His parents encouraged him to pursue his interest in science and engineering, which helped him develop a talent for creating things. In fact, He was good at it when he won first place in the University of Alabama’s Junior Engineering Technical Society science fair with his compressed air-powered robot named Linex.
After graduating from Williamson High School, an all-black school in segregated Mobile, Johnson attended Tuskegee University on a scholarship, earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and his master’s in nuclear engineering. He worked as a research engineer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee before joining the U.S. Air Force, where he headed the Space Nuclear Power Safety Section at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory and later worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on projects like the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Mars Observer and Saturn Cassini missions.
After the success of the Super Soaker, Johnson founded his own engineering company. He also holds numerous patents for other inventions, including the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC), an engine that converts heat into electricity more efficiently than current technology. In addition to his scientific work, Johnson is involved in community service. He serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Alliance for Children and is a member of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, an organization that mentors young African American students.