Page 36 - Florida Sentinel 2-5-16 (2)

Black History: Inventions That Changed The World
EARL LUCAS
A native of Dallas, Texas, Earl Lucas was born in 1970. He has been granted a patent for the grille on the Ford Taurus. He was given the patent on April 7, 2009, along
with colleagues Richard Woolley,
Dean Carbis, Dong Park, and
Michael Boyd.
According to Black Enterprise
magazine Lucas is one of 25 to 30 African American car designers in the world.
He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He enrolled at the College for Creative Studies, in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in trans- portation design.
Lucas joined Ford Motor Company in 1999 as a Senior De- signer on the 2000 Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition in- terior design team.
Lucas is responsible for the expressive design of the 2010 and 2013 Ford Taurus. He led the exterior redesign of Ford’s all-new flagship sedan, redefining Taurus with a new look. Lucas also played a key role as the Interior Design Manager of the 2009 Ford Flex.
Now, Lucas concentrates on sharing his experience with younger designers and creating an environment conducive to design and themes.
JANET EMERSON BASHEN
On January 10, 2006, Janet Emerson Bashen received a patent for a software invention, becoming the first African American woman to do so. Her software, LinkLine, is a web-based application to file Equal Employment Opportunity complaints.
In 2012, she was named to
Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 List
of most influential African Americans in Entertainment, Politics, Sports, and Business.
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