David Gordon Wilson

David Gordon Wilson outside his home workshop, 2005

David Gordon Wilson (born 1928) is emeritus professor of engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[1]

Born in Warwickshire, England, Wilson went to the US on a post-doctoral fellowship in 1955. He returned to Britain in 1957 to work in the gas-turbine industry. He taught engineering in Nigeria from 1958 - 60. He started a branch of a US company in London and in 1961 was moved to the US. In 1966 he joined the MIT faculty and taught engineering design and pursued a long-standing interest into human-powered transport, coauthoring Bicycling Science. He is credited, along with Chester Kyle, with starting the modern recumbent bicycle movement in the USA.

In 1980, Wilson and Richard Forrestall developed a recumbent bicycle, the Avatar 2000. In 1982, Tim Gartside (Australia) rode a fully faired version as the Avatar Bluebell (UK) in a US event to a world record of 51.9 mph for 200 metres with a flying start.[2]

Wilson also invented the carbon tax in 1973.[3]

Wilson is the co-founder of Wilson TurboPower, was founded in 2001 to commercialize two energy technologies developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[4]

Wilson invented of the 'Wilson Turbogenerator'. An electrical efficiency of greater than 50% is claimed for his design. A prototype 300 kW microturbine was under development in 2008 when work was terminated and Wilson was removed from the board and, later, from his company.

Wilson lives in Winchester, Massachusetts with his wife, Ellen.

Notable publications

  • Wilson, David Gordon; Whitt, Frank Rowland; et al. (April 2004). Bicycling Science (3rd paperback ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-73154-6.
  • Wilson, David Gordon; Korakianitis, Theodosios (January 1998). The Design of High-Efficiency Turbomachinery and Gas Turbines (2nd paperback ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-312000-4.
  • Beck, Douglas; Wilson, David Gordon (January 1996). Gas-Turbine Regenerators (hardcover ed.). Springer. ISBN 978-0-412-98331-3.

References

  1. ↑ "MIT MechE - David Gordon Wilson". Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  2. ↑ Wilson; Forrestall; Henden (1984). "Evolution of Recumbent Bicycles and the Design of the Avatar Bluebell". SAE International Congress and Exposition Technical Paper 840021. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Berdik, Chris (10 August 2014). "The unsung inventor of the carbon tax". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Wilson TurboPower, Inc. (copy @ Wayback Machine)". Retrieved 18 September 2014.
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