From Railway Fireman to NASA Legend: Dr. William L. Ko, Outstanding Alumnus of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

｜The text and photos were provided by Ms. Wang Yi-Ching, Executive Director of the Mackay Cultural Promotion Team.

Dr. William L. Ko was a fourth-generation descendent of the famous Rev. George Leslie Mackay. Born in Tamsui in 1927, Dr. Ko studied at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NTU in 1946 and graduated in 1950. He was the first Taiwanese to obtain a master’s and a Ph.D. degree in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. In addition, he started out as a railway fireman and became a steam locomotive driver in Taiwan, which is the one and only example in the world. Finally, he secured a job in the US as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist, where he was awarded the highest honor of the Distinguished Service Medal. On February 16, 2022, Dr. Ko was further elected outstanding alumnus of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering for his pioneering contributions and achievements.

Executive Director of Mackay Cultural Promotion Team Ms. Wang Yi-Ching (left) accepting the Outstanding Alumnus Medal on behalf of Dr. Ko from Prof. Lin Pei-Chun, Chair of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

After graduating from the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and passing the Senior Professional and Technical Examinations in 1950, Dr. Ko worked at Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA)’s Department of Rolling Stock and then the Motive Power Depot. He also served as a steam locomotive driver and steered various steam locomotives. After his service at TRA, Dr. Ko taught math and physics at Tamsui Middle School. In 1958, with only US$200 in his pocket, Dr. Ko went to the United States to further pursue his studies. In 1963, he successfully obtained a Ph.D. degree in aviation science from the California Institute of Technology.

However, Dr. Ko’s career was not a smooth ride initially. After graduating from Caltech, he first studied the structural response of rocket launchers to atomic blast waves at the Kaman Aircraft Corporation. Later, he researched the thermal properties of spacecraft and supersonic aircraft structures at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas. In April 1976, the Southwest Research Institute could not acquire government subsidies due to economic depression and thus could only keep Dr. Ko on board until the end of July. After being laid off, Dr. Ko looked everywhere for a new job but to no avail. For a total of six months, he had to live on the government’s monthly unemployment benefits of US$200.

Luckily, in February 1977, Dr. Ko was hired by NASA, where he worked for more than four decades from 1977 to 2018, making him the longest-serving scientist at NASA.

Dr. William L. Ko and his parents on a work site of NASA

In August 2020, at the age of 94, with his invention “method for predicting structure shape deformations” for NASA, Dr. Ko received his fourth patent granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO; US patent number 10,732,073). He also set the record for the oldest inventor in NASA and Taiwan. In 2021, at the age of 95, Dr. Ko submitted his 191st research paper to NASA.

Dr. Ko’s lifelong pursuit of innovation in and dedication to aviation research are genuinely admirable and serve as an excellent example for students of future generations. In 2015, Dr. Ko was awarded the highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, at NASA, which made him the only scientist at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center to receive this exceptional honor. There is no doubt that Dr. Ko’s achievements in scientific research are a story of hard work and perseverance from the last century, but also an accomplishment unmatched to the present day. The theories and patents developed by Dr. Ko are still widely applied in aviation and space science.

 

Dr. William L. Ko awarded NASA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, in 2015

Dr. Ko was not only an outstanding scientist but also an accomplished artist. With a passion for art, he was good at sketching with pen and colored pencils and creating oil paintings and watercolor paintings. Based on his math and engineering knowledge, he even developed his style, the “Ko watercolor theory.” For him, art is the extension of life. While still in Taiwan, Dr. Ko participated in the “Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibition.” After moving to the US, he also won the “Best Watercolor Award” in the California Art Exhibition. His stories and watercolor paintings were often featured in art magazines such as American Artist and Southwest Art. At the 1968 San Antonio Universal Exposition in Texas, Dr. Ko created a work entitled Spring at the Jensen Farm in public, which is now archived in the Jensen Presidential Memorial Library. The governor of Texas also named Dr. Ko an honorary citizen of Texas for his outstanding contribution to the art history of Texas.

Dr. Ko’s early paintings in Taiwan were often created under pastoral themes such as farms, fields, and water buffaloes, showing the simple life in the countryside of Taiwan. What is even more valuable is the combination of history and art in these works. Dr. Ko’s artistic style boasts warmth and hope, just like his devout love for God. He had always been grateful for the land of Taiwan, and regarded Taiwan as his only home, hoping that the fruits of his lifelong hard work could benefit Taiwan and its younger generations so that he could fulfill the mission of “honoring the name of the Lord” and “honoring the name of Taiwan”. Finally, in 2022, with the joint efforts of Ms. Wang Yi-Ching, Executive Director of the Mackay Cultural Promotion Team, and the Gallery of NTU History, a special exhibition “150th Anniversary of Mackay’s Journey in Taiwan: Love beyond Space and Time” was organized. In addition to going through the 150-year-long story of Rev. George Leslie Mackay in Taiwan, the special exhibition is also presenting Dr. Ko’s legendary life story and his awe-inspiring artworks in hopes to enlighten the younger generations in Taiwan about the achievements of our remarkable alumnus as a scientist, artist, inventor, and also a mathematician. It is hoped that visitors can be inspired by Dr. Ko’s perseverance in adversity, his willingness to give back after achieving success, and, most importantly perhaps, his passion for his homeland and life.