Dr. Elmer Samuel Imes was the second African American to earn a Ph.D. in physics and the first in the 20th century. A major contributor to modern physics, Imes’ work provided an early verification of Quantum Theory and his research led to four patents for instruments that were used for measuring magnetic and electric properties.
Happy Monday of Engineers Week!! Engineers Week 2026 runs from February 22 – February 26. All week long the National Society of Professional Engineers will host celebrations of engineers.
Each year, Engineers Week (EWeek) unites engineers, students, and communities across the nation to celebrate how engineering shapes our world. Founded by NSPE in 1951, EWeek (February 22-28, 2026) is more than a week of recognition; it’s also a movement to inspire the next generation of innovators, spotlight the impact of our profession, and strengthen connections across our engineering community.
The Theme for 2026 is Transform Your Future:
This year’s theme, Transform Your Future, is a powerful reminder that engineering doesn’t just shape our world—it shapes our opportunities, our communities, and the futures we can imagine for ourselves and our children.
And it starts with you.
We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.
Desk of Ladyada – LLMs Make EagleCAD Footprints, Daycare Edition 
Coming Soon – Adafruit AS7343 14-Channel Multi-Spectral Sensor Breakout
Professor Bubbleton’s Breathing Head in a Jar
Catch up with us on our blog, in our learn system, or on YouTube.
Smurfy_CH shares their 5th version of their password safe/ keyboard injector. Although the steampunk design changed, the progress made is cool. See the full project on instructables
A programmable keyboard for sending passwords / login credentials / text…. to a PC via USB connection.
The texts are stored as files on the memory of the password safe. Editing the files is enabled by pressing the rotary knob while plugging in the USB cable. When pressing the knob during USB connection, a USB drive is mounted on the PC, providing 800 MB of storage space for text files. This equals more than 500,000 ASCII characters.
Black Seed Bagels in Bushwick has three carry-on-suitcase-sized batteries plugged into the wall behind its catering kitchen. One powers a commercial oven called the Baconator (thousands of pounds of meat a week). Two more run energy-hungry fridges. The batteries are 2.8 kWh each, supplied for free by David Energy, a Brooklyn-based retail energy provider running a pilot program with NYC small businesses.
The target here is demand charges … those nasty fees Con Edison bills based on your peak 15-minute power draw in a given month. For NYC commercial customers, demand charges can run 15% to 50% of the total bill. By shifting big appliances to battery power during peak windows, Black Seed cuts its maximum grid draw and pays less. Co-owner Noah Bernamoff figures even $80/month savings per location across 10 shops adds up to almost $10,000/year. In the bagel business, that’s real money.
David Energy’s software decides exactly when each appliance switches to battery. As of mid-January, the startup had signed deals for about 50 locations and 500+ kWh of storage … fast-food joints, a day spa, a dog groomer (the battery cushions a fur-drying machine, which is a sentence I didn’t expect to write today). CEO James McGinniss sees this as a wedge into virtual power plant territory: batteries store power when it’s cheap, avoid pulling from the grid when it’s expensive, and can participate in NYISO demand-response programs that pay customers to cut usage during grid stress events.
The reason plug-in batteries matter specifically in NYC? Fire safety regs. The FDNY has subjected stationary lithium-ion installations to rules so strict they’re impractical for most buildings. Plug-in units sidestep the whole interconnection and permitting headache. If a customer leaves, David Energy just picks the battery back up.
This pilot builds on the growing plug-in energy movement … Jackery and EcoFlow portable units for household backup, Pila Energy‘s mesh battery system designed for daily bill reduction, and the balcony solar panels that are already powering over a million homes in Germany.
Saw this over on Canary Media which is new to me.
Light up your favorite Easter eggs and display them for all to see! We’ll make a simple paper-crafted stand from a dixie cup, hook up the NeoPixel lights, and choose colors with drag-and-drop code using Microsoft MakeCode.
Check out the guide from Erin St. Blaine and make your own using these items in the Adafruit shop!
If you aren’t familiar with Magna-Tiles, you don’t have children. The ingenious building system uses tiles with magnets that satisfyingly snap together. If you have a set handy this would be a great experiment to try with your kids. It demonstrates Pepper’s Ghost with a phone an and a few tiles!
Shared by Dadchatchannel on Instagram:
Impress your little one!
Follow this tutorial to make a hologram with your magnet tiles. You just need a few pieces and then search for hologram videos on YouTube.
Dr. Elmer Samuel Imes was the second African American to earn a Ph.D. in physics and the first in the 20th century. A major contributor t...