''The Engines of Our Ingenuity'' is a daily radio series produced jointly by KUHF-FM,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

. The series tells the story of human invention and creativity in 3 minute essays. The stories center on engineering and technology, but they venture freely into mathematics, science, literature, medicine, music, art and other areas. The program thus reveals much of the cultural history that is formed by technology and other creative enterprises, and it reveals how culture in turn shapes technology and science. The program airs nationally on many public radio stations, and on other outlets.

History

''The Engines of Our Ingenuity'' was first aired on January 4, 1988. It reached 3000 finished episodes in March, 2015. The series was founded by John H. Lienhard IV, now retired Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston and member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

. The program is now done by a group of experts in several fields, including Lienhard.

Reach

The program airs nationally on many public radio stations, and on other outlets. At any one time, the program is likely to be airing on 40 or so stations in the United States, and on such specialized outlets as

Armed Forces Radio The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

and the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

, and occasional overseas radio. The program is made available free of charge and reporting of its use is not enforceable. Part of the growing influence of the series has been an initiative to create a Spanish-language version of the program, ''Invenciones de la Inventiva''. These are episodes that have been translated into Spanish and are airing on station KNTU.

Website

''The Engines of Our Ingenuity'' website features complete audio for all the episodes of the program, as well as complete illustrated transcripts. It also includes variety of value-added items: related technical papers, books, and other sources. For a complete list of Engines topics, see the list of titles and keywords.

Awards

''Engines'' has received many awards including the Ralph Coats Roe Medal of

ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

to Lienhard for developing the program and the Ralph Coats Roe Award from the ASEE.

References

External links