Lawrence K. Edwards (born July 10, 1919, died 2009) is an accomplished American innovator in aerospace and ground transportation. Early in his career, he pioneered cutting-edge technologies for U.S. space and missile defense programs. He went on to invent and promote high-speed Gravity-Vacuum Transit and monobeam rail transit. He obtained a total of 14 patents in those areas.

Early life and education

Edwards, son of a nationally known physics professor, was born in Delaware, Ohio

Delaware, Ohio

The City of Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County in the United States state of Ohio. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area...

. Raised in Oxford, Ohio

Oxford, Ohio

Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...

, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Miami University

Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

 there, where he studied geology, math and physics. His interest in those fields led to a career in aerospace.

Accomplishments in aerospace

Edwards played key roles in the engineering of four of the nation's major aerospace programs:

• Talos, a long-range surface-to-air missile
  Surface-to-air missile
  A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
  
   that served as the U.S. Navy's primary anti-aircraft missile for 20 years. Talos was history's first supersonic missile with ramjet propulsion, making it far more fuel-efficient than rockets. Edwards was project engineer for this program at McDonnell Aircraft
  McDonnell Aircraft
  The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 16, 1939 by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II, and manned spacecraft including the Mercury capsule...
  
   Corp., which later became McDonnell Douglas.
• Polaris, the first in a succession of submarine-based Fleet Ballistic Missile
  Fleet Ballistic Missile
  Fleet Ballistic Missile comprises a succession of nuclear-tipped missiles, initially with intermediate range but now with intercontinental range that is often called "the backbone of the nation's strategic deterrence."Beginning in 1960 these missiles were aboard nuclear-powered U.S...
  
  s that still constitutes the backbone of the nation's strategic defense. Edwards managed its preliminary design at Lockheed Missile Systems Division, (now Lockheed Martin
  Lockheed Martin
  Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
  
  ) and continued as assistant director for systems engineering during the missile's early development.
• Lockheed Agena, which became America's most-used space vehicle. Agena's first use was to support cameras and recoverable film of Corona, history's first spy satellite
  Spy satellite
  A spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications....
  
  , providing vital intelligence for four successive Presidents. Additional uses included the first successful cameras to the moon, Venus and Mars and propelling Gemini astronauts to world-record speed and altitude. Edwards was instrumental in debugging the troubled A and B versions of Agena and then initiated the enormously successful Agena D.
• Space Shuttle: Edwards' aerospace achievements paved the way for his appointment as Director of Shuttle Engineering at NASA headquarters. He later became Chief of Advanced Space Transportation. In addition, he served as NASA's primary DOD technical interface for the Strategic Defense Initiative
  Strategic Defense Initiative
  The Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
  
   and on NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board.

Accomplishments in ground transportation

Edwards founded three firms dedicated to his radical innovations in ground transportation, Tube Transit Corp., Transit Innovations and Futrex Inc. His pursuits in this field include:

• Inventing and promoting Gravity-Vacuum Transit, a technology that combines gravity and atmospheric pressure to speed trains through evacuated underground tubes at 250 to 400 mph. Advocated for the New York City region as well as a Boston to Washington line by the Regional Plan Association
  Regional Plan Association
  The Regional Plan Association is an independent, not-for-profit regional planning organization, founded in 1922, that focuses on recommendations to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region...
  
  , — the invention was praised by Secretary of Transportation
  United States Secretary of Transportation
  The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...
  
   John Volpe
  John A. Volpe
  John Anthony Volpe was the 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts and a U.S. Secretary of Transportation.-Early life and education:Volpe was born in 1908 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Italian immigrants Vito and Filomena , who had come from Abruzzo to Boston's North End in 1905;...
  
   as well as editorials in The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
   and various professional and scientific journals. It was the lead article in the August 1965 edition of Scientific American
  Scientific American
  Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
  
  .
• Inventing and promoting the Project 21 monobeam, later System 21, the world's only aerial rail system suitable for networks above city streets. Whereas a classical monorail requires a pair of beams for two-way traffic and its switching limitations hinder its ability to run on networks, the monobeam carries opposite trains alongside a single slender beam; its footprint is smaller, and its breakthrough switching technology enables it to form networks.
  System 21 was praised by two Secretaries of Transportation and Vice President Al Gore as well as the Regional Plan Association in two federally supported books. In March 1989, the Federal Register
  Federal Register
  The Federal Register , abbreviated FR, or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains most routine publications and public notices of government agencies...
  
   noted, "This project has high technical merit representing an innovative technology which has a strong possibility of allowing for future reductions in the nation's energy consumption."
• Inventing and publicizing Project 32 Slalom, a compact three-wheel vehicle designed for students and suburban commuters. Edwards' patented suspension lets the vehicle lean into turns like a bicycle and, in very sharp turns, dramatically reduces the lateral forces experienced in four-wheel vehicles.

Honors and awards

Edwards was twice nominated by top Lockheed executives for the National Medal of Technology

National Medal of Technology

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...

, the highest U.S. honor for technological achievement. In 1980, NASA awarded him a team leadership award for his role in the Skylab Reentry Program. His inventions have been publicized in dozens of national newspapers, magazines and books. On three occasions, they were illustrated as "Patent of the Week" in the New York Times.

Grants

Edwards received some half-dozen small federal grants for his work in Gravity-Vacuum Transit

Gravity-Vacuum Transit

Gravity-Vacuum Transit was a form of transportation developed by American inventor Lawrence Edwards in the early 1960s.-Origin:The origin of this technology is Alfred Ely Beach in 1865. When the U.S. Department of Defense charged all contractors to contemplate what will sustain them if defense...

 and System 21. Additionally, $1.25 million in Commerce Department funds supported the construction of a functional scale model of System 21 in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

. It was unveiled in 1996.

Professional affiliations

Edwards is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Cosmos Club of Washington, an organization for those distinguished in science, literature and the arts.
In previous years, he was an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...

 and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....

, American Society of Civil Engineers

American Society of Civil Engineers

The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...

 and the Transportation Research Board

Transportation Research Board

The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent adviser to the President, the Congress and federal agencies on scientific and technical questions of national importance...

of the National Academy of Sciences.