When you quiz your friends about the first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, a healthy percentage will be able to identify Kitty Hawk along a coastal strip of North Carolina as the locale where that iconic event took place. Given their margin for error and desire for secrecy, the Wright Brothers wanted a remote location, along with lots of sand to cushion their inevitable hard landings on their way to the first sustained and controlled flight.
Similarly, in March 1926, Robert Goddard wanted a lot of open space to conduct his inaugural flight of a liquid-fueled rocket, a breakthrough bringing about the Space Age. His locale of choice was on a farm owned by his aunt on a hill in Auburn, less than a mile behind Holy Cross College, as the rocket flies. The centennial celebration of Goddard’s achievement is just around the corner on March 16.
Goddard’s vision, along with his brilliant mind and dogged determination led to Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crew landing on the Moon in 1969, just 43 years later. The impact of his innovative foundational work in establishing space flight continues to resonate today. While Kitty Hawk has a massive 60-foot monument, recreated camp buildings, and a robust visitor center run by the National Parks, Goddard’s site on the Packachoag Golf Course in Auburn pales in comparison.
With deep family roots in Worcester and a graduate of South High, with extensive connections to both Clark University and WPI, Robert Goddard is our international hero. His achievements need to be celebrated – in March, but also well into the future. Our community has the opportunity to leverage Goddard’s world altering work. Let’s make sure we find new ways to celebrate this extraordinary Worcester citizen.
This issue on Innovation and Central Massachusetts Visionaries is our effort to not only highlight the Goddard legacy, but profile many of today’s innovators across a variety of industries. Innovation across the region is producing breakthrough research in the burgeoning healthcare research area and delivering transformative change in many sectors throughout the region.
The pace of transformation in business everyone running a company is facing will only accelerate with the AI boom, and we all need to be open to fresh thinking and new ways to get the work done and deliver competitive value to our customers. Multi-generational businesses can all point to the moments where major pivots changed their direction and kept the business thriving. Innovation and constant change is the rule of successful companies, and not the exception. Let’s keep our history of innovation in this region thriving, as our future depends on it.
Peter Stanton is the publisher emeritus of Worcester Business Journal.
