Thanks to George F. Kirchoff, a 1955 engineering physics graduate, we can drive easy. Kirchoff worked for 35 years — with Thiokol Inc., Morton International and Autoliy Inc. — to develop a successful airbag, and he has the patents to show for it. He didn’t invent the airbag, per se, but he did perfect it, working long and hard through hundreds of trials to create a bag of gases that would explode, contained, in 35 milliseconds. At the same time, it had to keep us safe. Read the full story about Kirchoff from the Mobile Press-Register online at eng.auburn.edu/airbag
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AUBURN ENGINEERING NEWS
- #GINNing Podcast: Honey, have you Heard? July 3, 2026There’s a buzz around town about Dylan Heard, a rising senior in mechanical engineering. Heard has spent many hours of his time as an undergraduate student working with the Auburn University Bee Center making that honey, and come next year after graduation he’s going to be making that money.
- Engineering Development Forum 2026 hosted by Auburn Engineering July 2, 2026The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering hosted the 2026 Engineering Development Forum June 22-24, the first time the conference had been held in Alabama.
- Auburn Engineering hosts national transportation leaders for CUTC Summer Meeting July 1, 2026Auburn Engineering hosted USDOT Assistant Secretary Seval Oz and national transportation leaders for the 2026 CUTC Summer Meeting, highlighting AUTRI, NCAT and Auburn’s transportation research.