Celebrating National Engineers' Week with an example of the real McCoy

Ever wondered where the phrase ‘the real McCoy’ came from? As a Frenchman, I’m not a big fan of uncertainty. But, in this case, I’m willing to make an exception for a theory, since it involves the engineer Elijah J. McCoy.

Born in 1844 in Canada to two fugitive slaves, McCoy was one of the most prolific African-American engineers of all time. And to think – we almost lost out on his genius because of all the racial barriers he had to deal with at every step of his career.

One of his greatest achievements was inventing a lubrication device that allows a machine in motion to remain oiled. The story goes that this device became so essential to the machinery industry that inspectors would ask if owners of the equipment were using ‘the real McCoy’. And so, a popular expression was born.

Let’s take the chance to recognize one of the lesser-appreciated engineers of our time this National Engineers' Week. Elijah J. McCoy – he really was the real thing!