Hispanic Inventors and Tech Innovators Throughout History
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In 1895, Robert Landell de Moura, a Catholic priest from Brazil, created a wireless telephone system. It scared people so much they destroyed his lab and Moura had to start all over again, but his efforts led to today’s cell phone technology.
In the late 1930s Mexican engineer Guillermo González Camarena developed the “chromoscopic adapter for television equipment,” the first ever color television and applied for a patent in Mexico in 1940 when he was just 23-years old, and a U.S. patent in 1941. In 1950, he exported it to Columbia College of Chicago, where it was regarded as the world's best system.
In 1948, Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez co-invented the x-ray microscope with Dr. Paul Kirkpatrick. While a Ph.D. student at Stanford University in the 1940s, he and Kirkpatrick developed grazing incidence reflective optics for examination of living cells.
In 1970, University of Chile professor Arias Suárez developed the “Instrumental Seismic Intensity” method, a mathematical formula that assess the strength of earthquake tremors by measuring their seismic waves. Also known as the Arias Intensity formula, it allows building engineers to design buildings that are better equipped to withstand seismic activity.
In 1979, Mexican Armando M Fernandez became the first to invent, name and document the mouse pad, improved to incorporate a rolling steel ball as an upside-down track ball. After this publication, the mouse pad soon became a key element of office computers, such as the Xerox Alto and Xerox Star 8010. In 1982, Steve Jobs launched his first computer which had Fernandez’s mouse pad as a peripheral.
In 2000, Luis von Ahn of Guatemala created the “Are you a robot?” CAPTCHA test technology that can now be seen everywhere, while studying at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. He ended up gifting it to Yahoo for free and would go on to launch Duolingo in 2012.
In 2002, Mexican inventor José Hernández-Rebollar invented an electric glove that can turn sign language into spoken words and text.
In 2005, Costa Rican former astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz founded Ad Astra Rocket Company, which is dedicated to developing advanced plasma rocket propulsion technology. Franklin came up with the concept for the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) in 1977 and has been developing it ever since, which is an electrical propulsion device for use in space. The rocket can achieve very high exhaust speeds with a theoretical capability to take a crewed rocket to Mars in 39 days. The VASIMIR would require an electrical power level far beyond anything currently possible, however.
In 2011, SkyAlert was founded by Mexicans Álvaro Velasco and Alejandro Cantú to warn users about incoming earthquakes through their phones to reduce human and economic losses. They closely collaborate with United States Geological Survey (USGS) to distribute Earthquake Early Warnings in California, Oregon and Washington, and has over 6 million active users.
In 2013, Nubank, a Brazilian fintech company was founded by Colombian CEO David Velez. The story behind its creation was due to a bad experience at a physical bank in Brazil, with the goal of offering financial products and excellent customer service to the users, all digitally. According to TIME magazine, it has become one of the 100 most influential companies in the world.
In 2015, three Colombian entrepreneur — Simón Borrero, Felipe Villamarin, and Sebastián Mejía — founded Rappi, one of the most important e-commerce and tech-based delivery companies in Latin America. Today, the company is worth 5.2 billion dollars.
Today: 2024
Diana Trujillo is a Colombian-American aerospace engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, currently leading the engineering team at JPL responsible for the robot arm of the Perseverance rover and was the flight director for the Mars 2020 NASA mission. She was awarded the Comendador of Orden de Boyacá by the president of Colombia, Colombia’s highest civilian honor.
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Sources:
ProjectPulso.org: 8 times Latinos and Latin Americans changed the world with new inventions
By Frank Morris Lopez | May 13, 2022
Reader’s Digest: 13 Things You Never Knew Were Invented by Hispanic People
By Sara Alvarez Kleinsmith | Sep. 10, 2024
DigitalTrends.com: The 5 most successful Hispanic tech startups in the world
By Victoria Montenegro Caspe | Updated Oct. 14, 2021
DigitalTrends.com: The best tech inventions developed by Latinos
By Victoria Montenegro Caspe | Updated Sept. 23, 2021
National Museum of the American Latino: Hispanic Heritage Month
SkyAlert USA: About Us
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