Capstone workspace at Menlo Park
This capstone assignment has TWO parts. All students will answer the first prompt. Then each student should choose one of the options for the second part.
Part 1 (ALL students)
Given the amount of help he received from his team of muckers and the creation of a workspace at Menlo Park, should Thomas Edison qualify as an independent inventor, an early example of an industrial research laboratory, or something else?
What do you think are the central similarities and differences between Edison at Menlo Park and Bell Labs?
Part 2 (Choose ONE of three)
Option A: Could an independent inventor (someone with only 2-3 employees) make substantial inventions in the specific field of engineering in which you work? Why or why not.
Explain how important you consider advanced training in basic scientific principles to be in the specific field of engineering in which you work.
Option B: Would you rather be one of Edison’s “muckers” in his machine shop, or an engineer in Bell Labs?
At which place would you have more satisfying work? At which place do you think your efforts would lead to greater social benefit? Explain why.
Option C: The Hughes reading and the Bell Labs reading both articulate the benefits of independent inventors and industrial research labs, respectively. Identify what you see as the two most compelling benefits each document describes (a total of four examples).
Then answer the following question: if society could only have either independent inventors or industrial research laboratories, which should it choose if the goal is to deliver the greater social value?
**Youtube Video added to module this week**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AarncwY4NTc
Use if appropriate
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