>> As another 'innovative ozzie :-)' I read somewhere that the
>> Australia/NewZealand/US have such innovative cultures because of the
>>genetic stock of being free-settlers from various mother countries (like
>> england) looking to better their lot in life and take risks to do so..
>> Seems to make sense.

I have often figured this was the case too, but then I am a Kiwi :))

>That's right. However - why exactly in embedded/Pci etc.., not in another
>areas?
>What makes embedded so special?

Nothing makes embedded so special, perhaps it is just that others don't know
about what the antipodeans do. I will relate some kiwi ones.

1. It may have been an English expedition that went to Mount Everest, but it
was a Kiwi (Sir Edmond Hillary) on it that got to the top first.

2. It may have been the Americans that went to the moon, but the PI leading
the space program (Dr. William Pickering) is a New Zealander. (AFAIK he is
still alive, but would be in his 80's now). My father used to see him when
they were on their way to secondary school, and at that stage William
Pickering had made a compact portable valve radio that he could take with
him, so his skills showed from an early age.

3. Anybody who rides a jet ski is riding a New Zealand invention, in the
form of the Jet Propulsion unit. The original Jet Boat Propulsion unit was
invented in the early to mid 1950's, and propelled the only boats to go all
the way up the Colorado River, rapids and all (see the National Geographic
Magazine from the late 50's or 60's). The Jet Ski as we know it today seems
to have been designed and built once the patent on the original Jet
Propulsion unit ran out. Jet Boats are also extensively used around the
worlds tourist spots (Niagara Falls is one that comes to mind) for
transporting tourists.

4. Anybody driving a Mazda Rotary powered car is only doing so because of
the skill of a New Zealand engineer who sorted out the problems with the
rotor seals always leaking, causing the motor to use lots of oil. The
engineer concerned was part of the support team of Rod Millen (I believe
still doing rallies and hill climbs in the USA), back when Rod was rallying
the original Mazda Capella in NZ, and Mazda saw what he was doing, and gave
them assistance, with the result that the technology made its way into the
road car.

5. As a certain president of the USA got reminded, it was a New Zealander
who first "split the atom" (Lord Rutherford), and he did that back in the
early 1900's (well before WW1). Agreed that most of the work that allowed
him to discover the structure of the atom occurred in the UK (Manchester
University) and in Canada (IIRC in Toronto).

I am sure that other Kiwis and Ozzies on the list can come up with more for
their respective countries.

Alan (Kiwi and proud of it)

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