Health

Preparation H, sun lamps, Aspercreme — Invented by George Sperti (1900-91), Eng ’23

Benadryl, the first antihistamine — Invented by George Rieveschl Jr. (1916-2007), A&S ’37, M (A&S) ’39, D (A&S) ’40, HonDoc ’56, while conducting research at UC. His wife, Ellen, A&S '68, says he told her that Benadryl was the second oldest continuously marketed over the counter drug in the world and the first safest continuously marketed drug. Aspirin takes second place in both references. For many years, Rieveschl was vice president at Parke-Davis, the company that manufactured Benadryl. Later, he returned to UC as a vice president. He is also in the International Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.

Compound microscope — John Leonard Riddell  (1807–65), att. Law 1826, invented the first microscope to show stereoscopic, three-dimensional images through a single lens. The scientist, botanist, geologist, medical doctor, chemist, politician and science fiction author also explored microbiology and the bacterial origin of disease, a  particularly important focus as he survived the New Orleans Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1853 and 1854. The city's sanitation department placed him on a committee to study ways to prevent future epidemics. Later, he undertook one of the earliest and most extensive American microscopic investigations of cholera and tuberculosis.

Cardiovascular drugs -- Tom Novinson, D (A&S) ’69, spent 10 years in pharmacy research and invented several cardiovascular drugs for a major drug company. He also authored 20 U.S. patents in chemistry and medicine and received a national award for one of his chemistry inventions.

Food

Frozen orange-juice concentrate — Invented by George Sperti (1900-91), Eng ’23, in 1952

Frisch’s tartar sauce — Developed by Mel Schulman (1921-2003), A&S ’47

Pringles — Procter & Gamble’s stackable chip shape, designed by former UC astronomer Paul Herget (1908–1981), A&S ’31, M (A&S) ’33, D (A&S) ’35, HonDoc ’78

Furniture, equipment

Modern office equipment — Plus sleekly designed stainless steel kitchen appliances and cookware, sophisticated chess and Chinese-checker boards, bedding, even backyard pavilions, all designed by architect Michael Graves, DAAP ’58, HonDoc ’82, for Target department stores

Furniture — An architect’s desk and table at Marshall Fields, also designed by architect Michael Graves, DAAP ’58, HonDoc ’82, who has designed more than a thousand consumer products in all

National Securities Trading System -- The financial industry was revolutionized when the Cincinnati Stock Exchange initiated the world's first fully automated, computerized stock exchange without a trading floor. As president of the Cincinnati Stock Exchange from 1976-89, Richard “Nick” Niehoff, A&S '67, developed the National Securities Trading System (NSTS), approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a pilot program in 1976, then receiving permanent approval in 1985. Soon adopted by the London Stock Exchange, the NSTS model brought order to seven national exchanges chaotically operating independently, made stocks and securities more accessible to the public and opened the field for competition. Although the Cincinnati Stock Exchange was absorbed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange in 1995, the NSTS remains a guiding set of principles for U.S. securities markets. (Visit the Cincinnati Stock Exchange Project website, created by UC journalism students in the fall of 2009.)

Baseball's first lighting system -- Earl Payne, Eng '26, helped design professional baseball's first lighting system -- at Crosley Field in 1935. He had been an electrical engineer at Cincinnati Gas and Electric before having a lengthy military career. Read the "UC Magazine" story about the project.

Pentium chip — Vinod Dham, M (Eng) ‘77, is considered the "father of the Pentium chip," based upon his contribution to the development of highly successful Pentium Processors from Intel.

Electrical energy savings — Adam Hutson, DAAP '92, is credited with two US Patents (5656875 and 6026493), considered pioneering patents, particularly the second one, because they became the basis for a whole category of later patents in electrical energy savings technology in electrical engineering, such as integrated circuit technology.

Military advances — Alex Green, D (A&S) '48, designed specialized slide rules for military aircraft in the Pacific during World War II while in the Army Air Force — virtually, "versatile computers with data storage and calculation capability," he explains. His developed his first slide rule in 1945 to help the U.S. identify Japanese ships sighted during over-water flights, which resulted in U.S. aircraft sinking half of 77 Japanese warships in two harbors and later a 865 foot-battleship. When he received a Medal of Freedom in 1947, the mission was called one of the "longest and most hazardous reconnaissance flights of the war."

Later, he went on to develop slide rules that aided troops in hitting obscured targets, taking bomb-strike photographs with less vulnerability, choosing suitable radar targets and reference points, determining the number and types of bombs and planes required to accomplish missions, and calculating the time needed for a bomber to turn and the wind displacement the plane would experience. He and his team fabricated the equipment and trained troops. Ultimately, his slide rules were vital to solving problems of the most technical military campaign of WW II.

After the war, he served on the UC facutly for seven years, then joined Florida State University, where he initiated its physics PhD program and its Tandem-Van de Graaff nuclear program. He also served as nuclear adviser to the governor of Floriday and CEO of the Space Sciences Laboratory at General Dynamics/Convair in San Diego before joining the University of Florida as a graduate research professor. After 40 years there, he retired with emeritus status  in 2003. In June 2011, the 92-year-old and his wife celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.
LINKS: Read more.

Fire protection — First steam-powered fire engine, patented by Alexander Latta (1821-65), faculty member at OMI (College of Applied Science’s predecessor), 1850s; nation’s first salaried fire company, organized in Cincinnati by OMI board president Miles Greenwood.

Musical, audio equipment

Electric guitar — Theodore "Ted" McCarty (1910– 2001), Eng '33, helped develop the electric guitar while president of Gibson Guitar Corp. from 1950-66. During his tenure, the company produced the Les Paul, the Flying V and the Firebird. (Read the UC Magazine story on McCarty.)

First electronic organ – Invented by student Winston Kock (1909-82), Eng ’32, MS (Eng) ’33, HonDec ’52, as his electrical engineering undergraduate thesis. Held  more than 80 patents and was founding director of NASA’s Electronics Research Center in Boston.

Home theater systems — First high-fidelity in-wall speaker, developed by Sonance, world leader in making in-wall, in-ceiling and multi-room audio systems; CEO Chip (Larry) Brown, Bus ’83.