William Howard McLellan (December 1, 1924 – September 30, 2011) was an American electrical engineer, who achieved some fame in 1960 by succeeding at an engineering challenge set by Nobel Prize-winning physicist

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...

to build the smallest ever

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

. McLellan was born in

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...

, grew up in

Orland, California Orland is a city in Glenn County, California. The population was 7,291 at the 2010 census, up from 6,281 at the 2000 census, making Orland the most populous and fastest growing city in Glenn County. Orland is located north of Willows, at an ele ...

, and fought in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

in the Second World War. Serving as a radio operator in the

12th Armoured Regiment (Three Rivers Regiment), RCAC The 12th Regiment may refer to many military units. * 12th Infantry Regiment (South Korea) * 12th Regiment Royal Artillery * 12th Infantry Regiment (Philippine Commonwealth) * 12th Infantry Regiment (USAFIP-NL) * 12th Infantry Regiment (United St ...

, He met his wife Patricia Price in England during the war, and afterwards the couple settled in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, where McLellan attended the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(Caltech). In December 1959, Feynman offered two challenges relating to

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

at the annual meeting of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, held that year at Caltech, offering a $1000 prize to the first person to solve each of them. The first one required someone to build a working electric motor that would fit inside a cube ¹/₆₄ inches (0.40 mm) on each side. McLellan, at that time living nearby, achieved this feat by November 1960 and won the prize. His 250-microgram 2000-rpm motor consisted of 13 separate parts. McLellan appeared on television in relation to his achievement, and spent much of his career as an engineer in Caltech's Astronomy department, remaining a consultant there for the rest of his life. He died in 2011 in Pasadena. The second challenge was for anyone who could find a way to inscribe a book page on a surface area 25,000 times smaller than its standard print (a scale at which the entire contents of the Encyclopædia Britannica could fit on the head of a pin. The prize for the second challenge was claimed only much later, by Tom Newman in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLellan, William 1924 births American nanotechnologists 2011 deaths Canadian military personnel of World War II Canadian Army soldiers California Institute of Technology alumni