Early education

Lonnie George Johnson was the son of a World War II veteran. He learned about electricity from his father. At high school, he was the only Black student in a science fair, where he took home the first prize.

At this time, there were very few African Americans in the field of science. He got a degree in mechanical engineering, and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Tuskegee University.

Popular invention

Johnson joined NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory in 1979, where he worked to develop a nuclear power source for Galileo’s mission to Jupiter and Cassini’s mission to Saturn. Johnson had the idea for the Super Soaker water gun while working at NASA, trying to come up with a heat pump that would use water instead of Freon, which is unfriendly to the environment. The Super Soaker went on to become incredibly popular, and has made sales of almost $1 billion.

Johnson also invented the Thermoelectric Energy Converter to convert solar energy into electric energy. Solar energy is energy that comes from the sun.