In our comments section, readers chimed in on the toys they played with as kids. So we’ve added to our collection of toys that helped form the budding engineering minds of our readers. Nearly half of these suggestions came from Dan Carney, senior editor of Design News.

One of our women engineer readers commented that engineering toys from the 1960s and 1970s were so overwhelmingly marketed to boys that she didn’t even notice. We’re beginning to see real change in that area, as present-day robot kits and other engineering toys are usually depicted in market materials that show girls as well as boys.

Rob Spiegel has covered automation and control for 19 years, 17 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cyber security. For 10 years, he was owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.