About Me

Tahira draws 3rd poster and wins first prize

Tahira joins I.S. 144 (now M.S. 144) Double Dutch Team

Tahira graduates Salutatorian of I.S. 144

Tahira participates in the 2nd Kids-to-Korea program.

She received the Rennselaer Medal, awarded to the junior with the highest math and science scores.

Tahira graduates Monsignor Scanlan H.S. as Valedictorian.

Tahira is a freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute majoring in Biomedical Engineering. She has a scholarship from Fleet Bank and the Rensselaer Medal Scholarship.

She later switches majors to Mechanical Engineering.

Tahira gets her first engineering internship at Delphi Automotive Systems in Rochester, NY.

Tahira takes Introduction to Engineering Design with Burt Swersey as an instructor. Theme: Challenging the Limits in Sports and Recreational Activities.

She remembers the 3rd grade idea, and she goes into “flow” with ideas and concepts.

Tahira filed her first patent and participated in The Playful Mind exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

She won an E-Team Grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (now called Venture Well).

Tahira does a COOP with Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, CT. She is offered a full-time job to consider upon graduating.

Tahira participated in a documentary called “I Was Made to Love Her,” which featured women who love Double Dutch.

Tahira is enrolled in Inventor’s Studio with Burt Swersey to continue working on the prototype.

Burt contacts the New York Times to tell them about Tahira’s patent and story. Theresa Riordan writes the story on 02/14/2000.

The prototype works for the first time.

Tom Kilip from the Troy Record is there to capture the moment in the Troy Record.

Tahira graduates from RPI with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. She informs Pratt & Whitney that she will not take the full-time position.

Essence Magazine does a feature in the section called “You Go!”

Tahira works on campus in the office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Deborah Nazon, while pursuing the next steps for the invention.

The Times Union does an article. The Today Show invites Tahira to the show.

Tahira, along with her cousins, do a live demonstration on the Today Show.

Tahira does public speaking to K-12 audiences about her invention story.

Tahira pursued an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Mechatronics.

A new patent was filed and issued in 2003.

Tahira completed her M.S. degree and started a Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Double Dutch goes dormant.

Judith Griffee does a story on Tahira in a magazine called [fill in name]

Tahira enrolled as the first student in the new Design Science Program.

Tahira graduates with a Ph.D. in Design Science from the University of Michigan.

She moves to Ames, IA for a postdoctoral position at Iowa State University.

Tahira moves to West Lafayette, IN to start a tenure-track faculty position at Purdue University later that Fall and established the Research In Engineering and Interdisciplinary Design (REID) Lab.

Tahira’s collaboration with Amy Marconnet looking at the thermal properties of curly hair leads to significant media attention.

Burt Swersey passes away.

Tahira’s story is featured on the New York State English and Language Arts Common Core Exam

Tahira received tenure and promotion in Mechanical Engineering and is the first Black woman and person to do so in the ME department at Purdue and the 2nd Black woman in the College of Engineering.

Tahira is promoted to full professor as she begins a new role at Penn State University. She is also endowed as the Arthur L. Glenn Professor of Engineering Education and is the inaugural Associate Department Head for Inclusive Research and Education.

Tahira revisits Double Dutch and searches for a product design firm. She found and started working with Speck Design.

NOVA contacts and invites Tahira to a special program they are planning. Filming will take place in early 2024.

Tahira establishes Jump Dreams, Inc. in Pennsylvania.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History opens the “Change Your Game” exhibit, featuring a photo of the first day the device worked.

Tahira is awarded as an American Society of Mechanical Engineering Fellow.

Tahira is featured on NOVA.