J. Edward Anderson
Encyclopedia
John Edward Anderson is an American engineer and proponent of personal rapid transit
.
in the 1920s. His family returned to the United States in the 1930s. He obtained a BS
from Iowa State University
and a masters
from the University of Minnesota
- both in the field of mechanical engineering
. He also earned a Ph.D. in Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. In 1971, he became a full professor at University of Minnesota
and has been a professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University
.
Anderson is also a member of the Advanced Transit Association board of Directors since its founding in 1976. Anderson was elected in 2001 as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
.
), and later designed aircraft instruments, including the first transistorized amplifier used in a military aircraft for the Aeronautical Division of Honeywell
.
In 1963 he joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota, and directed its Industrial Engineering Division. He chaired a symposium on the role of science and technology in society, coordinated a 15-professor task force on New Concepts in Urban Transportation, and chaired three international conferences on personal rapid transit
(PRT), following which he was elected first president of ATRA.
Anderson consulted on PRT planning for many organizations, and for several years he was Distinguished Lecturer for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
. At one point, he discussed PRT with President Richard Nixon's staff. Anderson reportedly said of Nixon, "[Nixon] didn’t know anything about it, but we spent quite a bit of time talking to his staff."
Anderson was chosen as lead consultant to plan an automated transit system for Indianapolis, and selected the German-built Cabinentaxi
-- a three-person vehicle that travels below its elevated rail in one direction and on top of it in the other.
Anderson was later hired by the German builder of Cabinentaxi to act as U.S. representative, until the company abandoned work on the idea.
In 1983 Anderson co-founded Automated Transportation Systems, Inc., with two officials of the University of Minnesota. The company was renamed Taxi 2000 Corporation in 1986.
While teaching in the late 1980s at the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University, Anderson organized a team of engineers from major Boston-area firms to participate in developing the PRT system.
In 1989, the Northeastern Illinois RTA initiated a program to fully develop PRT, leading to a $40M joint development program with Raytheon Company and the RTA. Massachusetts-based Raytheon purchased the rights to the Taxi 2000 technology in 1993 and developed its own version of the system concept, which it named "PRT 2000".
Raytheon developed a PRT 2000 test track and produced three vehicles which were up and running in 1995 in Marlborough, Massachusetts in a joint project with the Northeastern Illinois RTA. However, Raytheon terminated the PRT 2000 project and Phase III was never started.
Anderson became part of the effort by a committee of the business-civic group Forward Questhttp://www.vision2015.org/ to install a Taxi 2000-based PRT system, the Sky Loop,http://www.skyloop.org into the Cincinnati area. The Sky Loop plan was submitted to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments
(OKI), but the proposal was ultimately rejected by OKI's Central Area Loop Study Committee.
In 2002, Anderson began selling shares in the privately held Taxi 2000, and on April 10, 2003, he unveiled the Taxi 2000 (Skyweb Express) prototype to the public and the media.
Anderson also sought public funding for PRT research and development but bills to subsidize a testing facility for Taxi 2000 were never approved. On March 8, 2004, Anderson appeared at a meeting of the Midtown Greenway Coalition board to support a proposal for that project, but in June 2004 the Midtown Greenway board endorsed a streetcar over his proposal.
J. Edward Anderson left Taxi 2000 Corporation in 2005 to start a personal rapid transit consulting firm called PRT International. He was sued by the Taxi 2000 Corporation in April of that year, alleging he had retained proprietary information from Taxi 2000, along with a company computer. The suit was settled in December 2005.
could achieve first-strike capability. Alarmed at Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger
's announcement that the U.S. intended to seek such capability for itself, Anderson believed that data showing danger of Soviet first-strike capability was greatly exaggerated. He authored seven papers between 1979 and 1983 opposing MX, in which he maintained there was no "window of vulnerability," due to known margins of error in the reliability, accuracy and testing of missile systems. He also founded a program called International Peace Issues Forum, for students to discuss arms control and disarmament issues. As recently as 2004 the group Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers listed Anderson as a member of Citizens for Global Solutions
who is available to do public speaking on the subject of arms control.
Personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit , also called podcar, is a public transportation mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guide ways...
.
Career
Anderson was born in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in the 1920s. His family returned to the United States in the 1930s. He obtained a BS
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
from Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
and a masters
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
- both in the field of mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
. He also earned a Ph.D. in Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. In 1971, he became a full professor at University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
and has been a professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
Anderson is also a member of the Advanced Transit Association board of Directors since its founding in 1976. Anderson was elected in 2001 as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
.
Personal Rapid Transport
He first worked on methods of structural analysis of supersonic-aircraft wings at the Structures Research Division of NACA (now NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
), and later designed aircraft instruments, including the first transistorized amplifier used in a military aircraft for the Aeronautical Division of Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
.
In 1963 he joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota, and directed its Industrial Engineering Division. He chaired a symposium on the role of science and technology in society, coordinated a 15-professor task force on New Concepts in Urban Transportation, and chaired three international conferences on personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit , also called podcar, is a public transportation mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guide ways...
(PRT), following which he was elected first president of ATRA.
Anderson consulted on PRT planning for many organizations, and for several years he was Distinguished Lecturer for 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...
. At one point, he discussed PRT with President Richard Nixon's staff. Anderson reportedly said of Nixon, "[Nixon] didn’t know anything about it, but we spent quite a bit of time talking to his staff."
Anderson was chosen as lead consultant to plan an automated transit system for Indianapolis, and selected the German-built Cabinentaxi
Cabinentaxi
Cabinentaxi, sometimes Cabintaxi in English, was a German people mover development project undertaken by Demag and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm with funding and support from the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie...
-- a three-person vehicle that travels below its elevated rail in one direction and on top of it in the other.
Anderson was later hired by the German builder of Cabinentaxi to act as U.S. representative, until the company abandoned work on the idea.
In 1983 Anderson co-founded Automated Transportation Systems, Inc., with two officials of the University of Minnesota. The company was renamed Taxi 2000 Corporation in 1986.
While teaching in the late 1980s at the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University, Anderson organized a team of engineers from major Boston-area firms to participate in developing the PRT system.
In 1989, the Northeastern Illinois RTA initiated a program to fully develop PRT, leading to a $40M joint development program with Raytheon Company and the RTA. Massachusetts-based Raytheon purchased the rights to the Taxi 2000 technology in 1993 and developed its own version of the system concept, which it named "PRT 2000".
Raytheon developed a PRT 2000 test track and produced three vehicles which were up and running in 1995 in Marlborough, Massachusetts in a joint project with the Northeastern Illinois RTA. However, Raytheon terminated the PRT 2000 project and Phase III was never started.
Anderson became part of the effort by a committee of the business-civic group Forward Questhttp://www.vision2015.org/ to install a Taxi 2000-based PRT system, the Sky Loop,http://www.skyloop.org into the Cincinnati area. The Sky Loop plan was submitted to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments
The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments is a transportation planning and advocacy agency based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The council of local governments, business organizations, and community groups coordinates policy on topics such as freight and intermodal...
(OKI), but the proposal was ultimately rejected by OKI's Central Area Loop Study Committee.
In 2002, Anderson began selling shares in the privately held Taxi 2000, and on April 10, 2003, he unveiled the Taxi 2000 (Skyweb Express) prototype to the public and the media.
Anderson also sought public funding for PRT research and development but bills to subsidize a testing facility for Taxi 2000 were never approved. On March 8, 2004, Anderson appeared at a meeting of the Midtown Greenway Coalition board to support a proposal for that project, but in June 2004 the Midtown Greenway board endorsed a streetcar over his proposal.
J. Edward Anderson left Taxi 2000 Corporation in 2005 to start a personal rapid transit consulting firm called PRT International. He was sued by the Taxi 2000 Corporation in April of that year, alleging he had retained proprietary information from Taxi 2000, along with a company computer. The suit was settled in December 2005.
Arms Control
Anderson was active in opposing deployment of the MX missile in new protective silos. Support for MX was based on claims by defense officials that a "window of vulnerability" existed in the Minuteman missile system—that the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
could achieve first-strike capability. Alarmed at Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger , was an American politician, vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after...
's announcement that the U.S. intended to seek such capability for itself, Anderson believed that data showing danger of Soviet first-strike capability was greatly exaggerated. He authored seven papers between 1979 and 1983 opposing MX, in which he maintained there was no "window of vulnerability," due to known margins of error in the reliability, accuracy and testing of missile systems. He also founded a program called International Peace Issues Forum, for students to discuss arms control and disarmament issues. As recently as 2004 the group Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers listed Anderson as a member of Citizens for Global Solutions
Citizens for Global Solutions
Citizens for Global Solutions, a grassroots membership organization in the United States, envisions a "future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone" and to "building the political will in...
who is available to do public speaking on the subject of arms control.
patents
(selected chronological list)- TANK UNIT, US Pat. 2916679 - Filed April 30, 1954. Fuel level sensing system.
- AUTOMATIC PILOT SERVOSYSTEM, US Pat. 2944203 - Filed February 24, 1958.
- PENDULOUS GYROSCOPIC ACCELEROMETERS, US Pat. 3162052 - Filed September 6, 1962. Gimballess inertial reference system.
- SWITCH MECHANISM, US Pat. 4522128 - Filed January 10, 1983. Vehicle-borne switch for PRT.
External links
- Taxi 2000 Corporation
- Advanced Transit Association
- University of Minnesota article contemporaneous with Raytheon program
- Anderson letter to the City Pages (Minneapolis, 1998)
- OKI Central Area Loop Study (CALS, 2001)
- Forward Quest CALS page (2001)
- Article on Taxi 2000 prototype (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 11/3/2002)
- Article on 2004 PRT proposal for Midtown Greenway (Minneapolis)
- Responses to PRT proposal in Minnesota Legislature (2004)
- Taxi 2000-Anderson lawsuit (2005)