In 1959, the industrialist Henry Kremer…created a series of challenges and rewards…centered on human-powered flight. It was basically the XPRIZE of its day.
The first Kremer prize offered 50,000 pounds for the first human-powered plane to fly a figure eight around two markers one half mile apart.
The challenge was formidable. Dozens of teams tried and failed for more than 17 years, each spending months designing and building their planes just to have them crash minutes after a test flight.
Enter the aeronautical engineer Paul MacCready. MacCready knew that the BIG Problem…was not making a human-powered plane…but speeding up the design-build-test cycle…to learn how to make a human-powered plane,…replacing theory and conjecture…with real-world testing.…
By focusing on designing a plane…that could be rebuilt in hours versus months,…MacCready enabled his team…to dramatically speed up iteration,…
Paul MacCready won both 1st and 2nd Kremer Prize – Read the wikipedia to learn more about his remarkable journey where he overcame struggles (personal and professional)
