Nathan "Nate" Ball is an American mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, TV host, children's author, pole vaulter, and beatboxer.

Early life

He was born on May 13, 1983, and grew up in

Newport, Oregon Newport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868. Newport was named for Newport, Rhode Island. As of the 2010 ...

. He moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 2001 to attend the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where he studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and earned two degrees: a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(2005) and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

(2007). At MIT he was a two-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-American pole-vaulter with a personal record of 16' ".

Media

Ball has served as a host on the

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

show ''

Design Squad ''Design Squad'' is an American reality competition television series targeted towards children ages 10–13. Contestants are high school students who design and build machines to compete for a $10,000 college scholarship from Intel. The series ...

'' since its first aired in 2007. Ball has also appeared in an episode of ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

'', a

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

special on

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

technology, an insurance advertisement, and in a ''

Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman ''Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman'' (sometimes shortened as ''Fetch!'') is an American live-action/animated television series that aired on PBS Kids Go! and is largely targeted toward children ages 6–10. It is a reality competition hosted by Ruff Ru ...

'' season 4 episode. Ball was featured in the ''

Nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

'' episode ''The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers.'' He is the author of the '' Alien in my Pocket'' series of science-adventure chapter books for kids.

Inventions

In 2005 he co-founded a business to develop the Atlas Powered Ascender, a tool he helped create that enables " reverse rappelling" up vertical surfaces at high speed. He was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2007 for his work on the Atlas Powered Ascender, an improved needle-free

jet injector A jet injector is a type of medical injecting syringe device used for a method of drug delivery known as jet injection. A narrow, high-pressure stream of liquid is made to penetrate the outermost layer of the skin (stratum corneum) to deliver me ...

system, and his work in engineering outreach with children. He is listed as the co-inventor on six patent applications, including for the Powered Rope Ascender.Powered Rope Ascender and Portable Rope Pulling Device
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References

External links

Atlas Devices, LLC

PBS Kids - Design Squad Nation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Nathan 1983 births Living people American male pole vaulters Ball, Nathan People from Newport, Oregon 21st-century American inventors